The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice on petition moved by former Jharkhand Chief Minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Hemant Soren against his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate after the delay by the Jharkhand High Court in pronouncing the verdict on his petition against the ED arrest despite concluding the hearing on February 28, 2024.
A bench of Justice Sanjeev Khanna and Dipankar Datta heard the matter and issued notice returnable by May 6 and said that the High Court may pronounce the reserved order in the meantime.
At the outset, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for Soren said that he wants interim bail.
Justice Khanna however pointed out that they have attached proceeds of crimes. "...look at the allegations...there is a plot of 8.5 acres."
The bench ultimately agreed to hear the challenge to arrest by ED.
Sibal during the hearing suggested that the matter may be listed for Friday. However, the bench asked Sibal to let them use their discretion.
At this, Sibal remarked, "I understand, your Lordships are also pressurised."
Justice Khanna said "We are not pressurised."
At this, Sibal clarified, I meant "Work-wise."
Last week, Sibal appearing for Soren had mentioned the plea before a bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna seeking an urgent listing saying that the delay was resulting in the incarceration of Soren during the crucial election time. The high court had reserved verdict on Soren's plea in February.
Soren was arrested on January 31 in a money laundering case connected with an alleged land scam and has been under custody since then. It may be recalled that the former CM had immediately approached the Supreme Court after his arrest, on February 2, the top court however refused to entertain the plea and asked him to approach the High Court instead.
ED's Case Against Hemant Soren:
The Enforcement Directorate has claimed that it recovered cash worth more than Rs 36 lakhs and documents pertaining to the illegal possession and occupation of at least 12 land parcels by ex-Jharkhand Chief Minister head Hemant Soren in its searches in the alleged money laundering case.
The ED has said that it has found that Soren was actually and knowingly involved in process and activities connected with the acquisition, concealment, possession, and use of proceeds of crime and projecting the said proceeds of crime as untainted property.
Soren was found to be guilty under Section 3 of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and was liable to be arrested under Section 19 of the money laundering act, the ED has submitted in court.
ED has said that the 8.5 acre land parcels are part of criminal proceeds as Soren illegally acquired and occupied them. The ED in its submission has said that in a raid conducted on April 13, the investigators unearthed several property related records and registers that were in possession of Revenue Sub-Inspector Bhanu Pratap Prasad.
On June 1 2023, the Ranchi police registered a case against Bhanu Pratap. On June 26, the investigation agency filed a money laundering case on the basis of the Ranchi Police FIR in the same case.
The ED has alleged that investigations revealed that Bhanu Pratap is a part of a larger syndicate and was involved in large scale manipulation of revenue records. Pratap is accused of acquiring properties forcefully as well as on the basis of false deeds, falsification of government records, and by tampering with original revenue documents.
The ED has alleged that Pratap was actively involved in hatching conspiracies with other persons to acquire and conceal various properties illegally, including illegal properties acquired and possessed by Hemant Soren. The ED has also said that information about several such properties in possession of Hemant Soren was recovered from Pratap's phone. The investigation agency recovered a list of 12 such properties of around 8.5 acres of land that were under Soren's possession from Pratap's phone.