During the hearing of his plea on Monday, before Justices Surya Kant and K V Viswanathan, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Soren, requested the withdrawal of the plea since the Budget session had already concluded on March 2. Sibal stated, “I wish to withdraw this,” and suggested that the question of law raised in the plea could remain unresolved.
NEW DELHI: Today (1st April): Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has withdrawn his plea from Supreme court challenging a High court order that denied him permission to attend the Budget session of the Assembly.
The Jharkhand High Court dismissed his plea on February 28, and Soren sought permission to attend the session that took place from February 23 to March 2.
During the hearing of his plea on Monday, before Justices Surya Kant and K V Viswanathan, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Soren, requested the withdrawal of the plea since the Budget session had already concluded on March 2.
Sibal stated,
“I wish to withdraw this,” and suggested that the question of law raised in the plea could remain unresolved.
READ ALSO: CM Hemant Soren misses summons from ED
BACKGROUND
Soren’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on January 31 in connection with a money laundering case has led to his present judicial custody. A special court in Ranchi had previously denied him permission to participate in the Assembly session. However, the High court had permitted Soren, who is the executive president of the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), to take part in the trust vote held on February 5.
The allegations of money laundering against Soren involve the illegal possession of certain immovable assets and alleged connections with members of the ‘land mafia’.
READ ALSO: ED Lodged a Complaint Against Former CM Hemant Soren & Four Others
The ED is investigating a racket involving the illegal transfer of land ownership through forged documents in Jharkhand.
Several individuals, including Chhavi Ranjan, a 2011-batch IAS officer who served as the director of the state’s Social Welfare Department and deputy commissioner of Ranchi, have been arrested by the agency in connection with the case. The ED is focusing on the substantial proceeds of crime generated through the manipulation of official records to acquire valuable portion of land worth crores of rupees.
READ PREVIOUS REPORTS ON HEMANT SOREN
