Kapil Sibal, representing Soren, argued that he is willing to surrender to Jharkhand jail authorities on June 2, the same day Kejriwal is required to return to Delhi prison after his 21-day bail period ends
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to respond within two days to a plea by former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, who is seeking interim bail in connection with an alleged land scam due to the ongoing general elections. During the brief hearing, ED opposed Soren’s plea, arguing he was arrested way before the dates for general elections were even announced.
A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, however, agreed to an expedited hearing in the matter, setting the next date for May 21 following a fervent appeal by senior counsel Kapil Sibal, who represented Soren, pressing the need for parity with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. Jailed in connection with a money laundering case, Kejriwal was on May 10 granted interim bail for political campaigning during the Lok Sabha polls.
Sibal argued that Soren is willing to surrender to Jharkhand jail authorities on June 2, the same day Kejriwal is required to return to Delhi prison after his 21-day bail period ends.
While the bench agreed to list the matter before a vacation bench on May 21, it noted that ED must get a couple of days to put in its affidavit on Soren’s plea for interim bail.
Additional solicitor general SV Raju, representing the ED, opposed Soren’s plea, pointing out that his petition for regular bail has already been rejected by a Jharkhand court and that the agency had sufficient evidence to demonstrate that former CM was a beneficiary of the proceeds of crime in the alleged land scam.
At this, the bench said, “We have to be prima facie satisfied there is some issue and that determination will require some time. We can’t say something when Mr Raju says he is not ready and asks for some time. We will ask them to file a short reply by Monday (May 20) and the matter can be heard on Tuesday (May 21).”
Sibal, demanding continuity of Soren’s political involvement in election campaigning, especially in the light of the precedent set by the recent bail granted to Kejriwal, lamented that delay in deciding his client’s plea has already cost him the first phase of the election in Jharkhand on May 13, and the second phase, scheduled for May 20, will also be over by the next date of hearing. After these two phases, the polling in Jharkhand for the Lok Sabha seats will be held on May 25 and June 1.
On the same day, the apex court closed proceedings in a separate petition filed by Soren seeking interim bail because there was a prolonged delay by the Jharkhand high court in deciding his appeal against his arrest by ED in January.
The apex court noted that the high court had already rendered a decision on May 3 rejecting Soren’s challenge to his arrest, which has been assailed in an appeal before it.
On April 29, the apex court issued a notice to ED on Soren’s petition seeking interim bail in a money laundering case lodged by the agency in connection with an alleged land scam in Jharkhand. In his plea, Soren also cited the ongoing general elections while pointing out the high court had failed to deliver its order on his challenge to the ED arrest despite reserving its judgment on February 28.
But three days later, the high court dismissed Soren’s plea, noting that he “cannot wriggle out of the mess” he “created for himself”, adding there is an abundance of documents that lay a foundation for the arrest and remand of the petitioner to police and judicial custody.
The land alleged scam pertains to usurping prime landed parcels, including a 4.55-acre defence land at Morabadi Mouza at Ranchi, and a land parcel of 7.6 acres at Hehal, Ranchi – both valued at over ₹74 crore at the current market price, besides several other land parcels – by the accused persons by making fake deeds using manufactured identities and falsifying original land records at Circle Offices and Registrar of Assurances (RoA), Kolkata and Circle Offices in Jharkhand, according to the ED charge sheet. Overall, ED has recovered documents related to at least 27 properties of which alleged fake deeds were created by the accused people.
Soren’s arrest happened minutes after he resigned as chief minister of Jharkhand.
ED has claimed that it has evidence that the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader is the key beneficiary in alleged land-related irregularities in Ranchi, where a network of brokers and businessmen were allegedly working over the years to create fake deeds of landed parcels by forging records in the registrar offices and further selling them off. He has denied the charges.
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