Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren (File).
New Delhi:
Ex-Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren – arrested in January in a money laundering case – has withdrawn an interim bail plea filed before the Supreme Court after questions over non-disclosure of facts, specifically that a Ranchi special court had taken cognisance of the complaint against him.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Mr Soren, withdrew the application after an irate court warned it would otherwise dismiss the plea. This means the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader, who is part of the Congress-led INDIA bloc, will not be able to campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
Voting for Jharkhand’s 14 seats was spread across four phases. Polling for seven has been completed, with the rest to vote across the sixth and seventh (final) phases – on May 25 and June 1.
What Supreme Court Said To Kapil Sibal Today
In today’s hearing the court – which asked several tough questions of Mr Sibal – also junked a petition challenging Hemant Soren’s arrest; the JMM leader was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate, which has alleged that he, as Chief Minister, ran a scheme to manipulate records, via fictitious transactions and forged documents, to acquire a large tract of land worth several crore rupees.
The court began proceedings today by demanding answers of Mr Sibal after it emerged a bail plea had also been filed before a Ranchi special court that, last week, had rejected the application.
READ | Jharkhand Court Rejects Hemant Soren’s Bail In Land Scam Case
“We need certain clarifications first. You did not tell us you had (already) filed a bail petition. We expected some candour… your client should have told us. You can’t keep material facts from us,” a vacation bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma told the lawyer and his client.
“Your conduct leaves a lot from you…” the court told Mr Sibal, who acknowledged the error as his “personal responsibility… and not my client”, and stressed, “… I am not misleading the court.”
The court, however, was in no mood to back down.
“Why is it that none of the petitions mention cognisance (by the special court) has been taken?” Justice Datta asked of Mr Sibal, and then declared, “You take your chances elsewhere.”
What Was “Non-Disclosure Of Facts”?
Last month the Jharkhand High Court dismissed Mr Soren’s plea challenging his arrest; it pointed to an “abundance of documents that lay foundation for the arrest and remand of petitioner”.
This was after the Supreme Court issued a notice to the central agency and sought its response to an interim bail plea filed before it on grounds the High Court was delaying delivery of its judgement.
After the High Court finally delivered its judgement, the Supreme Court closed the petition; a bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Datta noted it had now become “infructuous”.
READ | Supreme Court Disposes Of Hemant Soren’s Petition Seeking Interim Bail
Significantly, Mr Soren had then sought interim bail – while the High Court delivered its verdict – to campaign for his party and the INDIA bloc in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Mr Sibal had then requested that the bail plea and a petition challenging the High Court verdict be heard together.
READ | Hemant Soren Approaches Supreme Court Against High Court Verdict
Recounting the chain of events, the Supreme Court today said, “On April 18 your client came before us… on April 29 we issued notice (to the ED). You expressed dissatisfaction about the High Court not passing a verdict. I asked what relief you were seeking… and you said bail.”
To this Mr Sibal said, “I should have said ‘release’…”
“You were pursuing parallel remedies… applied for bail before special court, then came before us (also) praying for bail. On May 10 your other petition (seeking direction to the High Court to speed up its judgement) was dismissed. We were told judgment was delivered (but) it was not brought to our notice then that cognisance (by the special court) had been taken,” the Supreme Court insisted.
To this Mr Sibal once again said, “The fault is mine… Our intention was never to mislead the court” and pointed out he had acted independently since Mr Soren “is not in touch with us…”
“He may be in custody… but he is not a layman,” Justice Datta shot back.
READ | No Interim Bail Yet For Hemant Soren. He Cited Kejriwal’s Example
On May 13 the top court refused interim bail, which had been sought citing immediate precedence; the reference was to the release of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, arrested in March in the alleged liquor policy scam, so he could campaign for the Aam Aadmi Party and the INDIA bloc.
Hemant Soren’s Arrest
Mr Soren resigned as Chief Minister on January 31, hours after the ED began a marathon questioning session and then informed him he would be arrested. Mr Soren, however, refused to accept the arrest memo till he had quit his post, in order to avoid being the first sitting Chief Minister to be arrested.
READ | 9 Acre Illegal Land, BMW Car: What Report On Soren’s Claims
Mr Soren is accused of illegally acquiring 8.86 acres land in Ranchi.
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