Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Wednesday withdrew his petition in the Supreme Court challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a money-laundering case, reported Live Law.
Soren has been in jail since January 31, when he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the case. This was shortly after he resigned as the chief minister after being questioned by the central law enforcement agency in the matter.
On Wednesday, a vacation bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma verbally observed that Soren had not disclosed that a special court had taken cognisance of the complaint filed by the Enforcement Directorate.
The court said that the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader had also filed a bail application and remarked that he was pursuing “parallel proceedings”, according to Live Law.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Soren, said that the petition before the Supreme Court challenged the former chief minister’s arrest and was thus distinct from a bail application.
Sibal further said: “I take it as a fault of mine and not the client. The client is in jail. Our intention was never to mislead the court.”
The Supreme Court, however, observed that when cognisance was taken, Soren’s detention changed into a judicial act from an executive act. The bench then allowed the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader to withdraw the petition.
Soren had sought to be released so that he could campaign for the Lok Sabha elections. He had cited the case of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is out on interim bail, as a precedent.
Voting has already taken place in seven out of 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in Jharkhand.
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