New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea by former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday. The apex court asked Soren’s counsel, senior advocates Kapil Sibal and AM Singhvi, to move before the Jharkhand High Court.
A three-judge bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna told Sibal that courts are open to everybody and Soren should move before the high court. On Thursday, Sibal mentioned the plea before the Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud seeking an urgent hearing in the matter. The CJI agreed to list the matter on Friday.
Sibal and Singhvi pressed before the bench, also comprising justices M M Sundresh and Bela M Trivedi, to hear the matter. However, Justice Khanna said Khanna High courts are constitutional courts and if we permit one person, then we have to permit everyone.
During the hearing, Sibal urged the bench to allow the judges to show what the case is all about. Justice Khanna said “there is an earlier of this court which says you must go to the high court”. Justice Khanna reiterated that the high court is also a constitutional court and Soren’s counsel should go before it. Sibal and Singhvi urged the court to hear their submissions. “Please go to the high court, we will not entertain it….taken a consistent view. I have been doing it and my brother and sister have also followed”, said justice Khanna.
Singhvi stressed that there was no necessity for arrest. However, unmoved by arguments pressed by Soren’s counsel, justice Khanna said go to the high court. Singhvi urged the bench to direct the high court to take up Soren’s plea immediately. The bench agreed to this submission advanced by Singhvi.
“We are not inclined to entertain the present writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution…and leave open to the petitioner to approach the jurisdiction of the high court under Article 226 of Constitution…”, said the bench, in its order. The apex court asked the high court to expeditiously hear and dispose of the case and told Sibal, "we do not control the high courts like that...".
Soren was arrested in a money laundering case linked to the “illegal” possession of huge parcels of land and alleged association with the “land mafia”. Soren, in his plea filed in the apex court, urged the court to declare his arrest as unwarranted, arbitrary, and in violation of his fundamental rights. The plea said ED officers have abused their powers for extraneous considerations under the dictates of the central government as the petitioner is the leader of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, a prominent opposition party and an active constituent of the INDIA alliance.
Soren also urged the court to issue a direction to ED to set him free immediately, as his arrest is part of a well-orchestrated conspiracy that has been given shape at the anvil of the general elections slated in a few months.
The plea said he was arrested from the Raj Bhavan where he had gone to tender his resignation as the chief minister along with JMM MLAs and those of the allied parties who enjoy a clear majority in the state assembly. Soren said his arrest around 10.10 PM on January 31, 2024, is illegal, and without jurisdiction.
Soren alleged the ED’s action, initiated at the behest of the central government, was aimed at toppling his democratically elected government.
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