Soren moves SC against arrest; SC to hear plea on Friday

NEW DELHI: A day after his arrest in a dramatic turn of events, former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Thursday filed a plea in the Supreme Court, questioning the action initiated against him by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case in connection to a land scam.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud agreed to hear his petition on Friday.

Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and A M Singhvi, mentioned the matter, questioning the very manner of arrest and claiming this would have serious impact on polity of the country.

They sought urgent hearing in the matter.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the ED, contended an identical petition has been filed in the Jharkhand High Court.

Sibal, however, said the petition from the High Court would be withdrawn.

The counsel for Soren said this was a very serious matter, as the Chief Minister was arrested just months before the general elections.

Additional Solicitor General S V Raju also for the ED said there were serious charges against the petitioner.

Soren's counsel claimed he was arrested at 5 pm on Wednesday, though the arrest memo said it was done at 10 pm.

The bench said it would consider the matter on Friday.

A special bench led by the CJI was formed to take up mentioning on behalf of Soren.

The CJI is presiding over a seven judge bench to hear a matter related to minority status of Aligarh Muslim University.

In a swift turn of events, the ED arrested Soren on Wednesday before he was taken to Governor's House to submit his resignation as Chief Minister of the state. Earlier, the agency has raided his house at Delhi and claimed to have recovered Rs 36 lakh in cash, besides some high-end cars. Soren had then reportedly given a slip to the agency and mysteriously appeared in Ranchi after remaining incommunicado for 36 hours.