Supreme Court To Hear Hemant Soren's Plea Against ED Arrest On Friday

The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to list Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren's petition against arrest by the Enforcement Directorate on Friday.

Sibal appearing for Hemant Soren said that they are withdrawing the case from the high court. ( Image Source :PTI )

The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear former Jharkhand CM and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Hemant Soren's petition against arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday.

The case was mentioned by senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi in front of a bench headed by the CJI DY Chandrachud on Thursday. 

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the apex court that the case will be heard by the Jharkhand High Court today.

Sibal, appearing for Soren, said that they are withdrawing the case from the high court.

"This affects the polity of the country. can a man be arrested like this" Sibal remarked while saying that they want the case to be heard by the top court. And they had approached the high court for an urgent hearing on Wednesday night.

The CJI said that the case will be listed tomorrow (Friday)

Though CJI D Y Chandrchud was to sit in a seven-Judge combination to hear the Aligarh Muslim University case, on request of Sibal and Singhvi, the CJI presided over a special bench of three judges.

The bench comprising CJI and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra presided over the mentioning of Soren's petition.

Following his resignation, Soren was arrested by the ED in Ranchi on Wednesday night. A camp jail has been set up in Dayanand Nagar for his detention.

Soren, who is also the head of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), was arrested following more than seven hours of questioning by the ED in a land scam case.

The arrest came shortly after he submitted his resignation to the Governor, paving the way for his loyalist and state Transport Minister Champai Soren to potentially take on the role of Chief Minister, as stated by the ruling alliance.

This development concluded days of tension between Soren and the investigative agency, ranging from the ED searching his Delhi residence to his party condemning the agency for "maligning" his image.