Jharkhand High Court seeks ED’s reply on Soren’s plea against arrest

Ranchi, Feb 5 (IANS) Jharkhand High Court on Monday sought ED’s reply on a writ petition filed by former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren against his arrest in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.

High Court’s acting Chief Justice S Chandrashekhar and Justice Anubha Rawat Chaudhary’s bench has directed the agency to file its reply by February 9.

The court has fixed February 12 for the next hearing.

Soren moved the high court after the Supreme Court on Friday (February 2) declined to entertain his plea against arrest.

Declining to entertain the plea filed by Soren directly before the apex court, a special bench presided over by Justice Sanjiv Khanna said: “Go to the High Court. We will not entertain it.”

“We leave it open to the petitioner to approach the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution…It would also be open for petitioner to ask for expeditious listing and disposal of the petition,” ordered the bench, also comprising Justices M.M. Sundresh and Bela M. Trviedi.

In his petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, Soren alleged that the ED officials abused their powers for extraneous considerations under the dictates of the Central government as a part of a “well-orchestrated conspiracy” ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.