Supreme Court Constitutes Special Bench To Hear Hemant Soren's Petition Against ED Arrest Tomorrow

A Special Bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, MM Sundresh and Bela M Trivedi will hear tomorrow at 10.30 AM the writ petition filed by former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren challenging his arrest by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED).

Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal and Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi had mentioned Soren's petition before Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud today morning for an urgent hearing, following which CJI agreed to list the matter tomorrow.

Sibal undertook to withdraw the petition filed by Soren before the Jharkhand High Court seeking the same prayers.

It was on January 31 that Soren was arrested by the ED in connection with an alleged land scam case. He announced his resignation as the CM yesterday.

In the writ petition filed under Artice 32, Soren has contended that the arrest by the ED was part of a conspiracy to destabilize the opposition ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He has sought to declare his arrest as "unwarranted, arbitrary, illegal and violative of the fundamental rights guaranteed and protected under Article 21 of the Constitution of India."

Soren said that he had filed the writ petition before the Supreme Court on January 31 itself apprehending the arrest by the ED. Though he requested the ED officials to await the outcome of the petition, they went ahead to arrest him, states the petition.

He stated that he was arrested from the Raj Bhavan when he went to meet the Governor to tender his resignation. He claimed that no notice was served on him before the ED searched his residence at Delhi.