New Delhi. Hemant Soren’s attempt to get interim bail for election campaign on the lines of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has not been successful. The Supreme Court has not given him immediate relief. The Supreme Court will consider this matter on May 17. The court sought a reply from the ED by May 17 on Hemant Soren’s petition challenging his arrest in the money laundering case related to the alleged land scam. It is worth noting that the voting process has started in Jharkhand from May 13, which will continue till the seventh phase on June 1.
On Monday, a bench of Justices Sanjeev Khanna and Dipankar Dutta had first listed the matter for May 20, but senior advocate Kapil Sibal repeatedly argued that the elections are about to end. After hearing Sibal’s argument, the Supreme Court changed the date and listed it for May 17. Kapil Sibal told the bench that his case comes under the Arvind Kejriwal order and Hemant Soren also needs bail for election campaigning.
On this argument of Sibal, the bench said that there is a lot of work this week and many cases are listed. It is difficult to change the date. But when senior advocate Arunabh Chaudhary, appearing for Sibal and Soren, persisted with his argument, the court changed the date to May 17. The bench said – We do not know whether we will be able to hear this case or not, but still we are postponing it to May 17.
Hemant Soren had filed a petition in the High Court challenging his arrest, which was rejected by the High Court on May 3. Soren has challenged the High Court order in the Supreme Court. Along with this, he also sought interim bail to campaign in the Lok Sabha elections till the court’s decision on his petition against arrest. It is worth noting that on May 10, the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Kejriwal to campaign in the Lok Sabha elections. He was arrested in a money laundering case related to the alleged scam of Delhi’s liquor policy.