Jharkhand: Former CM Hemant Soren withdraws plea over assembly session access

Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren withdrew his plea from the Supreme Court on Tuesday challenging a high court order that denied him permission to attend the budget session of the state assembly. Soren's decision to withdraw the plea came as the assembly session had already concluded. However, his counsel, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, urged the court to keep the question of law open.

A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and KV Vishwanathan agreed to keep the legal questions open over the issues raised. The court allowed Soren to withdraw his plea challenging the Jharkhand High Court order that barred him from attending assembly sessions.

The Jharkhand High Court had dismissed Soren's petition on February 28 prompting him to approach the Supreme Court against the order. Prior to that, a Special Court in Ranchi had also dismissed his petition on February 22.

Soren's legal battles come in the wake of his arrest 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). Following his questioning by the ED, Soren tendered his resignation as CM to the Jharkhand Governor.

The ED alleged that it had recovered cash exceeding Rs 36 lakh from Soren's possession, along with documents related to the investigation into the alleged acquisition of land through fraudulent means. The agency claimed that land parcels spanning 8.5 acres were part of the criminal proceeds that Soren allegedly acquired.

In a raid conducted on April 13, 2023 the ED unearthed property-related records and registers in the possession of Revenue Sub-Inspector Bhanu Pratap Prasad. According to the agency, Bhanu Pratap Prasad and others were involved in corrupt practices related to acquiring properties forcefully or through false deeds.

The ED stated that there were sufficient reasons to believe that Soren was guilty of money laundering under section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The probe focuses on the proceeds of crime generated through allegedly forging official records to acquire land parcels worth crores using fake documents.