Supreme Court Refuses To Hear Hemant Soren's Petition Challenging His Arrest (image-twitter/HemantSorenJMM)
The Supreme court of India refused to interfere in the writ petition filed by the former Jharkhand chief minister, Hemant Soren, challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). He was arrested on Wednesday in an alleged money laundering case associated with a land scam.
“We are not interfering, go to High Court,” the Supreme Court said while hearing Hemant Soren”s petition challenging his arrest. A special court comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Bela M Trivedi asked the 48-year-old JMM leader to approach the High Court. As soon as the matter was taken, Justice Khanna asked Sibal why the matter could not be heard by the High Court. Dismissing the petition, the court said, “Courts are for everyone. High courts are constitutional courts. If we permit one person, then we have to permit everyone”, reports Livelaw.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, along with Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi mentioned the former chief minister’s case before the bench led by the Chief Justice of India for an urgent hearing on Thursday. Sibal, representing the petitioner, during the hearing, said that the Supreme Court has discretionary powers. In response, Justice Khanna said, “It is apparent that he has been arrested and you are seeking amendment. So, move the High Court.”
The bench cited an earlier order in September last year in which Soren was asked to approach the Jharkhand High Court over the ED”s summonses in a money laundering case linked to the land fraud case. The court also highlighted that the writ petition was originally filed challenging ED summonses and hence now he has been arrested, alternative remedies ought to be availed.
Hemant in his petition to the apex court stated that the agency “abused its power and acted in a malafide manner to destabilise a democratically-elected state government”.
On Wednesday, Hemant Soren was arrested by the ED after being questioned for more than seven hours. Before the arrest, the JMM leader tendered his resignation to the governor of the state. He has also nominated JMM leader Champai Soren as the chief minister. Champai Soren will take oath as the new Jharkhand Chief minister on Friday.
