Hemant Soren Withdraws Plea From Supreme Court Against HC Order

Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday withdrew his plea from the Supreme Court, challenging a high court order that refused to grant him permission to attend the budget session of the state assembly.

Hemant Soren withdrew the plea as it had become infructuous because assembly session has ended. However, Soren's counsel, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal urged the court to keep the question of law open.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and KV Vishwanathan agreed to keep the questions of law open over the issues raised.

The court allowed Soren to withdraw his plea challenging Jharkhand HC order for letting him attend assembly sessions.

The Jharkhand High Court February 28 dismissed Soren's petition. Soren approached the Supreme Court against a High Court order. Earlier, the Special Court in Ranchi dismissed his petition on February 22.

Soren was arrested on January 31 in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

He tendered his resignation as CM to the Jharkhand Governor following his questioning by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the alleged land scam case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The ED claimed it had recovered cash in excess of Rs 36 lakh from the possession of the JMM chief, along with documents linked to the investigation into the alleged acquisition of land by "fraudulent means".

The agency added that land parcels spanning 8.5 acre were part of the criminal proceeds that the former CM allegedly acquired.

The ED stated that in a raid conducted on April 13, 2023, they unearthed several property-related records and registers that were in the possession of Revenue Sub-Inspector Bhanu Pratap Prasad.

It was stated that Bhanu Pratap Prasad and others were part of a "very large syndicate involved in corrupt practices of acquiring properties forcefully as well as on the basis of false deeds."

"Considering the facts and circumstances and taking into consideration the activities and processes of money laundering in which Soren is directly involved and is also a party with the said Bhanu Pratap and others, there are sufficient reasons to believe that Soren is guilty of the offence of money laundering as per section 3 of PMLA 2002," the agency stated in a release.

The probe pertains to proceeds of crime generated by allegedly forging official records by showing "fake sellers" and purchasers in the guise of forged or bogus documents to acquire huge parcels of land having value in crores.

(ANI)