Jharkhand High Court’s May 3 Verdict Renders Soren’s Supreme Court Petition Redundant
The Supreme Court has disposed of the petition filed by former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren against his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), stating that the Jharkhand High Court’s verdict on May 3 has rendered the petition infructuous.
RANCHI – In a recent development, the Supreme Court has dismissed former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s petition requesting the court to direct the Jharkhand High Court to pronounce its verdict on his plea against the ED’s arrest, deeming it redundant in light of the High Court’s May 3 judgment.
A division bench comprising Justices Sanjeev Khanna and Dipankar Dutta pointed out that since the Jharkhand High Court had already delivered its verdict on the matter, Soren’s petition had become futile.
Soren had approached the Supreme Court even before the High Court’s decision, seeking interim bail to campaign in the Lok Sabha elections until the High Court ruled on his petition challenging the ED’s arrest.
Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Arunabh Chaudhary, representing Soren, argued that the former Chief Minister’s Special Leave Petition (SLP) against the Jharkhand High Court’s decision from the previous week was scheduled for a Supreme Court hearing on May 13.
They requested that both petitions be heard together on the same date.
However, the division bench advised Soren’s lawyers to raise this argument during the SLP hearing on May 13, as the current petition had lost its relevance due to the High Court’s judgment.
The Supreme Court’s decision to dispose of Soren’s petition comes as a setback to the former Chief Minister, who has been embroiled in legal battles related to the ED’s investigation.
The Jharkhand High Court’s verdict on May 3 appears to have significantly impacted the course of events, leaving Soren to rely on the upcoming SLP hearing to challenge the ED’s actions against him.
