New Delhi: The Supreme Court Wednesday declined to hear former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren’s petition challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money-laundering case tied to a land scam in Jharkhand.
The bench observed that the petitioner had not disclosed the fact that a trial court had taken cognisance of the prosecution complaint — the ED’s equivalent of a chargesheet. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Hemant Soren, then withdrew the petition seeking bail.
Incidentally, filing of a chargesheet indicates that the case is ready for a trial.
In a sharp rebuke to Soren’s counsel, the top court said it would dismiss his plea against the arrest without going into merits. “It will be damaging if court goes into details,” the vacation bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma said.
As the hearing began Wednesday, the judges asked Sibal when Soren had received knowledge about the special court taking cognizance of the ED’s complaint. Sibal replied that it was on 4 April.
The bench noted that on 15 April, Soren filed a bail application, which was subsequently rejected by the special court.
“You are pursuing parallel proceedings,” Justice Datta said, adding that “more candour” was expected from the petitioner in disclosing the facts related to the rejection of bail and the special court taking cognizance of the case. “Your conduct leaves a lot to be desired,” Justice Datta further said.
Soren was Tuesday asked to satisfy the apex court on whether the legality of his arrest could be examined after the subordinate court had taken cognisance of the prosecution’s complaint.
Soren’s advocates Kapil Sibal and Arunabh Chowdhury sought time till Wednesday to respond to the court’s queries.
Appearing for the ED, Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju opposed Soren’s “special prayer” for interim bail to campaign for the polls, contending his case was different from that of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Raju said the trial court had already taken cognisance of the prosecution complaint upon finding that a prima facie case was made out against Soren.
In its affidavit, the ED argued Soren was actively attempting to “subvert” the probe in the money-laundering case by “misusing state machinery”.
The agency said Soren’s arrest on 31 January had been upheld by the Jharkhand High Court and his regular bail application was dismissed by the trial court on 13 May.
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