No interim bail yet for Hemant Soren from Supreme Court; plea to be heard by vacation bench

The Supreme Court on Friday listed former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren's plea challenging his arrest in a money-laundering case before a vacation bench which would sit during the upcoming Summer break at the top court [Hemant Soren v. Directorate of Enforcement and Anr]..A Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta did not pass any order granting interim bail but listed the matter for hearing on Tuesday next week (May 21) after Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju, representing the Enforcement Directorate (ED), sought more time to respond to the plea. "We have to be satisfied that there is some issue and then we can deal with this, Mr Raju is also appearing in Kejriwal case today. We can keep this on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday... But I am not there in vacation bench. Re-list before the vacation bench on Tuesday," Justice Khanna said. The Court asked the ED to file a short reply to petition including on the prayer for interim bail, on or before Monday next week..The Court had earlier this week issued notice to the ED on the plea challenging the Jharkhand High Court decision to not release Soren.During the hearing today, ASG Raju opposed the demand for Soren's interim bail for poll campaigning and argued that he had been arrested long back."There is a lot of evidence which connects him to the land," Raju said.However, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Soren, submitted that he was not the owner of the land.While pressing for Soren's interim bail before the completion of elections. Sibal said he would surrender on June 2."On 20th there is next phase of election and then it is on May 25," he submitted. .Dismiss my petition instead of listing it on May 20: Hemant Soren to Supreme Court in ED case.The ED has booked Soren in a case concerning “huge racket of illegal change of ownership of land by the mafia” in Jharkhand. The agency recorded Soren's statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on January 20.The ED had filed a prosecution complaint on June 23, 2016 in connection with the case under Section 45 of PMLA against Soren, Ranjan, nine others and three companies.So far, over a dozen people have been arrested in the case, including 2011-batch IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan, who served as Director of the State’s Social Welfare Department and Deputy Commissioner of Ranchi.Soren had stepped down as Chief Minister of Jharkhand on January 31 in the wake of his arrest by the ED for alleged “illegal change of ownership of land by the mafia” in the State.Soren has denied the allegations of money-laundering. In a video released soon before he was taken into custody, he claimed he was being arrested on the basis of “fake papers” as a part of a conspiracy.