No relief to Soren, SC refuses to entertain interim bail

New Delhi: The Supreme Court declined to entertain former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren's petition on Wednesday as it noted the petitioner has not disclosed the facts that the trial court has taken cognizance of the chargesheet in the matter and his bail plea is pending in special court.

A bench of justices, Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma, noted the facts that Soren, in his petition seeking interim bail and challenging his arrest, has concealed various facts related to the matter

After the top court was not convinced to give any relief to Jharkhand politicians, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal for Soren withdrew the petition seeking interim bail. While withdrawing the petition, Senior Advocate Sibal urged the top court to see when his bail application came before the High Court, which then decided after a month.

The top court remarked that it becomes very difficult for them to regulate the business of high courts. The top court also remarked that it is unfortunate that, despite putting in so many hours, it has to hear that judges work for very few hours, referring to an article from last week.

The top court questioned the conduct of the petitioner for not disclosing the proper facts related to his bail plea before it and noted that Hemant Soren had applied for bail in the trial court as well as in the top court.

The top court remarked that Hemant Soren was pursuing parallel remedies as he had applied for bail before a special court and came to the top court for interim bail. The top court remarked that Soren's conduct leaves a lot to be desired, and this is not how he came before the court without disclosing material facts.

The Supreme Court also questioned why the applicant did not mention anywhere that cognizance on the chargesheet had been taken by the special court. The apex court remarked that Soren's conduct is not without blemish and that it is blameworthy conduct, as they did not disclose before the top court that cognizance had been taken by the special court and bail had been moved.

Senior Advocate Sibal for Soren defended his client and said that the former Jharkhand CM is in custody and that he is not in touch with them. The senior advocate for Sibal further said it was not Soren's fault. Soren had approached the top court against the Jharkhand High Court decision, which rejected his plea challenging arrest in a money laundering case. The Jharkhand High Court has rejected Soren's plea challenging arrest in a money laundering case on May 3.

Soren, in his plea before the High Court, had claimed that his arrest was unwarranted and his remand in the matter was arbitrary and illegal. Hemant Soren, who has filed the petition through advocate Pragya Baghel, called his arrest illegal and malafide. In the meantime, he has sought interim bail.

After a prolonged moment of speculation in the media and a hide-and-seek drama, former Jharkhand Chief Minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) Chairperson Hemant Soren was arrested by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in the land scam case in January.

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