Supreme Court disposes of former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren's plea in money laundering case, calls it 'infructuous'

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Hemant Soren. The JMM leader has already challenged the high court order, and the apex court is scheduled to hear the matter on May 13. Hemant Soren has also sought interim bail for campaigning in the Lok Sabha elections till the high court delivers its verdict on his plea against arrest.

Kapil Sibal said the Supreme Court will hear that plea along with the appeal challenging the high court order on May 13. "Forget that he is a former chief minister. I (Soren) have a right as a citizen to be dealt with fairly by the high court," Sibal said.

"You have challenged the high court order in another petition. You argue there," the bench said, while disposing of his plea. Hemant Soren was arrested on January 31 this year in a money laundering case related to a land scam.

After his arrest, he resigned as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand, and his loyalist Champai Soren was appointed as the new CM. The Enforcement Directorate is probing the alleged "huge amounts of proceeds of crime generated by manipulation of official records by showing dummy sellers and purchasers in the guise of forged/bogus documents to acquire huge parcels of land having value in crores''. In his plea, Hemant Soren outlined a pattern and said that it is reflected in the ED's actions of prosecuting and targeting individuals, especially political leaders belonging to the opposition, on the basis of "cooked-up allegations." In his petition, Soren charged that the ED had acted with a malafide intent of paralysing the leaders of opposition political parties.