Hemant Soren in SC: Apex Court refuses to entertain plea, says, ‘please approach high court’

In a setback for Jharkhand ex-Chief Minister Hemant Soren, the Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain his plea and asked him to approach the High Court. A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, M M Sundresh and Bela M Trivedi while hearing the plea of jailed JMM leader observed, ‘Right forum is high court.’ The JMM leader filed a plea before the Supreme Court in Delhi on Thursday challenging his arrest.

The court on Thursday sent Soren to judicial custody for a day. The ED had sought a 10-day custody.

What is the case

The criminal case filed by the federal agency against the 48-year-Jharkhand Mukfti Morcha (JMM) leader emerges from a June 2023 ECIR (ED term for FIR) following raids in April conducted against state government employee and revenue department Sub-Inspector Bhanu Pratap Prasad at various locations in the state. It also alleged that a dozen land parcels in Ranchi measuring about 8.5 acres in total are in “illegal possession, occupation and use” of the JMM leader and are proceeds of crime under the anti-money laundering law. The agency, according to official records, recovered 11 trunks holding voluminous property documents from Prasad’s premises along with 17 original registers.