“You suppressed material facts”: Hemant Soren withdraws interim Bail plea after Supreme Court refuses to entertain it

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s plea challenging his arrest by the enforcement directorate in connection with an alleged land scam. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal representing Soren withdrew the interim bail plea after the apex court noted that the petitioner had not disclosed the fact that a special court in Ranchi had taken cognizance of the charge sheet in the matter.

“Your conduct tells a lot. We expected your client to come up with candour but you suppressed material facts,” noted the Supreme Court. A bench comprising of justices Satish Chandra Shamra and Dipankar Dutta stated that Soren had already filed a bail plea before a trial court. Kapil Sibal representing Hemant Soren then withdrew the bail plea after the apex court warned that it would dismiss the plea otherwise.

During a hearing on Tuesday, the Supreme Court had questioned the basis of Hemant Soren’s plea challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate after a trial court in Ranchi had acknowledged the presence of prima facie evidence of the former Jharkhand Chief Minister’s connection with alleged money laundering against him.

Drawing inferences to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest and subsequent interim bail, the apex court noted that both cases were in no terms alike. Arvind Kejriwal had not sought regular bail from any trial court, and neither did he have any judicial ruling against his name that took cognizance against him. “Once the cognizance has been taken, one judicial forum has applied its mind and reached a conclusion that prima facie there are materials justifying your arrest. In such a scenario, will another court look into the same materials? There is a judicial decision, and you need to satisfy us that after such an order, this court can still look into materials,” observed the apex court.

Hemant Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on January 31, soon after he resigned as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand. Champai Soren was then named the Chief Minister of the state. Previously, the Jharkhand High Court had dismissed Hemant Soren’s plea challenging his arrest on May 3.​