Jharkhand High Court Issues Formal Notice On Hemant Soren's Plea Challenging ED Arrest, Hearing On February 27

The Jharkhand High Court today allowed the amendment application filed by former CM Hemant Soren, questioning the power of arrest exercised against him by the Enforcement Directorate under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002 in an alleged land scam.

While doing so, a division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Rajesh Kumar ordered the central agency to file a comprehensive reply in the matter within 2 weeks and listed the case for hearing on February 27.

ED had opposed the amendment application, stating that it changes the whole scheme of the original petition. Additional Solicitor General SV Raju argued that the original petition was essentially focused on power to issue summons under Section 50 PMLA whereas the amendment application focused on power of arrest under Section 19.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal on the other hand, appearing for Soren, submitted that the Supreme Court vide its order dated February 2 had granted liberty to Soren to seek amendment of his petition before the High Court.

Taking note of Sibal's submission, the bench allowed the amendment application.

During the hearing, Sibal also urged the Court to expeditiously hear the matter on merits. He submitted that in the garb of filing objections to the amendment application, ED had already filed its reply on merits.

"The man is inside. They have filed their reply. They filed their in reply in Supreme Court overnight...Two weeks will be too long in a matter like this...we are talking about liberty...Two weeks in a civil writ your lordship gives, this is a criminal matter," Sibal argued.

However, the Court was of the view that a formal notice must be issued to the agency and sufficient time must be granted for filing a comprehensive counter affidavit.

Soren was arrested by the ED for alleged involvement in a significant land scam in Jharkhand, where he is accused of being the primary beneficiary of fraudulently acquired land. The arrest followed Soren's resignation as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand.