Hemant Soren moves SC against his arrest; sent to a day's judicial custody

Former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren on Thursday moved the Supreme Court, challenging his arrest by Enforcement Directorate a day earlier on charges of money laundering in an alleged land fraud case.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing on behalf of Soren, mentioned the matter before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud. He said Soren's arrest "affects the polity of the country".

Appearing on behalf of ED, solicitor general Tushar Metha informed the bench that Soren's arrest was challenged on Wednesday before the Jharkhand High Court, which is slated to hear the matter on Thursday. Sibal then informed the bench that the plea before the high court would be withdrawn. He said it is a "very serious matter... Everybody will be jailed before elections".


The bench agreed to list the matter for hearing on Friday.

Meanwhile, Soren was remanded to one-day judicial custody by a Ranchi court on Thursday. The ED has sought 10 days' custodial interrogation of Soren. The court will pronounce its verdict on Friday.

ED sources claimed Soren was unable to answer the agency's questions, following which he was arrested. Soren was also confronted with statements of co-accused which were recorded under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), admissible in a court of law, pointing to Soren's alleged involvement in the land scandal.