Hemant Soren withdraws bail plea challenging ED arrest after SC refuses to entertain it

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The bail plea of Hemant Soren was dismissed as withdrawn by the Supreme Court on Wednesday. The former chief minister of Jharkhand withdrew his interim bail plea after a Vacation Bench asked why he had not disclosed the facts relating to the Special Court already taking cognisance of the complaint by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

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“Tell us why was this not mentioned anywhere that cognisance has been taken. Why was cognisance not disclosed,” the Vacation Bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra told senior advocate Kapil Sibal who was appearing for Soren.

Soren’s petition before the apex court challenging his arrest by the ED in a money laundering case concerning a “huge racket of illegal change of ownership of land by the mafia” in Jharkhand. He was arrested on January 31.

During the hearing on Tuesday, the top court asked Sibal (appearing for Soren) to satisfy it on the proposition that the validity of arrest can be examined by them, despite the trial court taking cognizance of the ED complaint and rejecting a regular bail application filed on behalf of Soren.

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The Bench further said it was not inclined to entertain Soren’s plea since he had pursued parallel remedies by filing two separate pleas – one challenging his arrest and another seeking bail – but had failed to disclose that the trial court had taken cognisance of the offence.

Soren had moved the SC seeking interim bail to campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections which are currently underway. On Monday, the ED had “vehemently opposed” any “special treatment” to him.

Voting on 14 Lok Sabha seats in Jharkhand was spread across four phases. Polling for seven seats has been completed, with the rest of the constituencies to vote in the last two phases on May 25 and June 1.

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Responding to Soren’s plea, the ED said he is “highly influential” and “there is an active attempt on the part of the petitioner to subvert the investigation by misusing state machinery and to project the proceeds of crime as untainted”.