Former Jharkhand Chief Minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha party (JMM) executive president Hemant Soren was sent to 5-day Directorate of Enforcement (ED) custody on Friday.
Soren was arrested on January 31 by the ED in connection with a money laundering case related to the “illegal” possession of extensive land parcels and his alleged involvement with the “land mafia.” Following his arrest, a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Ranchi remanded him to one-day judicial custody on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court declined to intervene in the arrest of an individual by the ED in connection with a money laundering case. The court directed the individual, represented by senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singhvi, to approach the high court for any relief. The special bench comprised Justices Sanjiv Khanna, MM Sundresh, and Bela M Trivedi.
Sibal said, “In these kinds of cases, this court needs to send a message. Here, we are dealing with a chief minister, who has been arrested. Please see the evidence. This is not fair”
Also Read: ‘Kejriwal is next’: BJP MP warns after Jharkhand ex-CM Hemant Soren’s ED arrest in land fraud case
Soren said in the petition that he was arrested at the Raj Bhavan, where he had gone to submit his resignation as the chief minister, accompanied by JMM MLAs and those from allied parties who collectively hold a clear majority in the state assembly.
“The arrest of the petitioner around 10.10 PM on January 31, 2024 is illegal and malafide and without jurisdiction,” it claimed.
The petition argued that Soren’s arrest had infringed upon his freedom, asserting that the officers of the ED had misused their authority for external motives, influenced by the directives of the Central government.
Meanwhile, amidst the political turmoil in Jharkhand, Champai Soren, a leader from the JMM, was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand on Friday at the Raj Bhavan in Ranchi.
Also Read: ‘It’s a break’: Hemant Soren’s first reaction after ED arrest in money laundering case
Accompanying Soren, Alamgir Alam from the Congress and Satyanand Bhokta from the RJD also took the oath as ministers in the Jharkhand cabinet.
In the 81-member Jharkhand assembly, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha holds 29 seats, its ally the Congress has 17 seats, while the RJD and the CPI (ML) each have 1 seat. With the combined support of 43 MLAs, the alliance known as the INDIA bloc appears to have the necessary numbers to successfully navigate through a floor test.
(With inputs from PTI)
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Published: 02 Feb 2024, 01:16 PM IST
