Jharkhand High Court Adjourns Hearing Of Hemant Soren's Petition Against ED Arrest Till Tomorrow

Soren's petition was heard today by a division bench consisting of Acting Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Anubha Rawat Choudhary, commencing at 10:30 am.

During the hearing, Soren's counsel requested the court to list the matter at 12 pm today, citing recent developments that needed to be brought on record. However, the court declined the request, adjourning the matter to 2nd February 2024.

"We will not accede to such a request in such a manner," ACJ sternly added.

ACJ Chandrashekhar dictated the order : “Learned Counsel for Enforcement Directorate has apprised the court that the petitioner has moved the Supreme Court on 31.01.2024 by filing Writ Petition (Cr) Diary no. 4969 of 2024.

In the aforementioned facts, we are not inclined to post this matter for hearing at 12 noon today. Let this matter appear on 02.02.2024 as the learned counsel for the petitioner and SV Raju, ASG appearing for ED has no objection to the listing of this matter tomorrow.”

The Court took note of the mentioning slip tendered to the Registrar General on the evening of 31st January 2024. The slip indicated that Soren's counsel had informed about the impending arrest, prompting the urgent listing of the Writ Petition.

The court's order highlighted that the counsel for the Enforcement Directorate was not informed about the mentioning of the matter before the Registrar General for urgent listing.

In its observations, the court noted that Soren, in his writ petition, had mentioned moving to the Supreme Court via Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 378 of 2023, which was dismissed as withdrawn on 18th September 2023.

The petitioner raised serious questions pertaining to democracy under the constitution and the interpretation and scope of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

The Court stated, “In the background of the aforementioned facts the Registrar General took approval of this case from Acting Chief Justice. That is how this writ petition vide filing no. 2474 of 2024 has been listed today for hearing.

It is also necessary to indicate that this writ petition was filed without an urgent memo…”

ACJ Chandrashekhar while concluding the matter remarked, “We could have heard this matter last evening. Other side was not informed. What would have happened?”.

In a related development, Soren moved the Supreme Court challenging the ED's arrest. After the petition was mentioned this morning for urgent listing, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud agreed to hear the matter tomorrow. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, Soren's counsel, undertook to withdraw the petition filed before the High Court.

Background

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Hemant Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The arrest followed Soren's resignation as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand.

The ED was investigating Soren's alleged involvement in a significant land scam in Jharkhand, where he is accused of being the primary beneficiary of fraudulently acquired land. Soren had been summoned for questioning by the ED on January 29 or 31.

On January 29, ED officials visited Soren's official residence in Delhi to interrogate him in connection with the land scam. However, he was not present at the house during the search. The officials carried out a 13-hour search, discovering 36 lakhs in cash and a luxury SUV at the residence.

In response, Soren filed an FIR in Ranchi against five ED officials under the SC/ST Act, alleging that the seized money and vehicle did not belong to him and were planted by the agency. He claimed that the search was an attempt to harass and malign him and his community, emphasizing the lack of prior information about the search.

On January 31, ED officials revisited Soren's official residence in Ranchi. After seven hours of questioning, Soren resigned as the Chief Minister and was subsequently arrested in the late evening by the ED. He had submitted his resignation to the State Governor before the arrest.