The Jharkhand High Court was able to turn down the petition of the ECM Hemant Soren to arrest ED against him for laundering money through land dealings in the Ranchi district and involving the tribal community. Pressurizing SC’s press office, an advocate let the curtain slip and stated that the court decision has finally been reached waiting for more than 60 days since the reserved judgment on February 28.
Soren approached the Supreme Court on April 25, expressing concerns over the delayed verdict. The apex court issued a notice to ED, seeking its counter affidavit by May 6 on Soren’s bail plea, while allowing the high court to pronounce its verdict. The order came eight days after his plea to the apex court.
Soren’s advocate, Piyush Chitresh, confirmed the order without discussing its merits. Soren was arrested on January 31 in a money laundering case involving an alleged illegal tribal land business in Bargain.
On February 28, a division bench led by acting Chief Justice S. Chandrashekhar reserved judgment after extensive hearings over two days.
The Supreme Court is expected to take up Soren’s case in the coming week, in which the Enforcement Directorate will respond to the petition by the jailed leader for interim bail. The justices- judges Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta have submitted that the counter affidavit can be given by May 6.
It was ASG SR Raju who appeared before the Jharkhand high court as an ED representative. He relied upon vital evidence which concretely showed why Soren should not get bail. Soren hawk Sear’s insistence in site acquisition of eight and a half acres in front of Bargain Circle through the active involvement of S.I. Bhanu Pratap Prasad. In the meanwhile, Soren was found to be on a WhatsApp chat with Vinod Singh where plans were disclosed of a banquet hall being constructed on the property.
The probe is based on some 8.86-acre Ranchi plot in question, which was reported to have been illegally purchased by Soren from multiple FPS registered by the JMA and ex-CM.
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