The Supreme Court will hear on Monday the pleas filed by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren challenging their arrests by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Both the petitions have been listed before the bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta.
Arvind Kejriwal has moved the Supreme Court to challenging the April 9 judgment of the Delhi high court, which rejected his writ petition challenging his arrest by the ED in connection with a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy. The Aam Aadmi Party leader has been under custody since his arrest on March 21. The ED has filed its counter-affidavit and Arvind Kejriwal his rejoinder in the matter.
On Wednesday, Hemant Soren also moved the Supreme Court seeking relief challenging his arrest.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Hemant Soren, informed the Supreme Court bench that the Jharkhand high court has reserved the order on Soren's petition challenging his arrest in the last week of February but the judgment has not been delivered yet. He sought an urgent hearing on the grounds of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. He also informed the bench that the election would be over and he would remain inside the jail.
In February the Jharkhand high court reserved its decision on Hemant Soren's plea challenging his arrest. Soren, in his plea before the high court, has 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, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chairperson Hemant Soren was arrested by the ED in the land scam case in January.
On Saturday, the Special PMLA Court in Ranchi refused to grant interim bail to Hemant Soren. The former chief minister had sought interim bail of 13 days from the court to attend the funeral of his uncle, hearing which the court refused to grant him bail.
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