‘Deeply disturbing’: On Soren arrest, Sibal tells court ED probing matters unrelated to original case

Former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren’s lawyer Kapil Sibal told the Jharkhand High Court that though the JMM leader was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in an alleged money laundering case related to the ownership of a piece of land, the agency is now investigating matters unrelated to the original case.

“A sitting CM was arrested. We are talking of liberty here. It is deeply disturbing…Now ED is going on matters unrelated,” Sibal told the two-judge Bench hearing the writ petition challenging Soren’s arrest.

Soren was arrested January 31 in an alleged money laundering case connected to the ownership of a piece of land, and the ED, in its first remand note, had said the former CM was part of a syndicate that illegally buys and sells land. Soren has argued that there was no record showing that he owned the piece of land that the ED has alleged belonged to him.

In a second remand petition, the ED said there were WhatsApp chats between Soren and his associate Binod Singh regarding transfer postings, and that “it appears” that a huge amount of money transfer took place. Sibal was referring to the ED now investigating the transfer posting issues when Soren was originally arrested over a case related to land-ownership.

The Bench of Acting Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Arun Kumar Rai will next hear the matter on February 27, with ED having sought time to file a consolidated reply.

Sibal argued on Monday, however, that the ED should be given fewer than two weeks to file its reply as it is a criminal case and the ED had already filed responses on merits.

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