The Jharkhand High Court on Friday dismissed the plea of Hemant Soren, who was seeking judicial redressal against the Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s decision to arrest him, calling the former chief minister a “losing litigant” and “anxious petitioner” who, as a last resort to “wriggle out of the mess created by himself, used the bogey of political vendetta”. News18 has accessed the order of the court.

Soren was arrested by the directorate in connection with a land scam on January 31. The former chief minister skipped eight of 10 summonses issued to him by the ED.

Stating that the evidences and documents which went against Soren were not false, the court in the judgement said: “The recovery of huge cash from his Delhi residence is not denied by the petitioner and the excuse of the illness of his parents for keeping more than Rs 36 lakh in cash prima facie looks untenable. In this state of affairs, by raising a technical plea, the petitioner cannot wriggle out of the mess he created for himself. Like the last resort to a losing litigant, an anxious petitioner has raised the bogey of political vendetta.”

The court added: “The case set up by the ED against the petitioner is not based only on the statements recorded under section 50 of the PMLA including of those who claimed themselves real owners of the properties in question. There is an abundance of documents that lay a foundation for the arrest and remand of the petitioner to police and judicial custody. At this stage, it is not possible to hold that the ED has proceeded against the petitioner for no reasons.”

“It has further explained that the petition by Soren was not one which talks about the witnesses being coerced or forced to give the statements. The petitioner did not even accuse the ED of producing fake materials against him. “The fabrication and falsification of the property deeds and revenue records are the matters of record, and there is prima facie evidence of the petitioner’s association with Bhanu Pratap Prasad (the prime accused),” the court stated.

“At the relevant time, the petitioner was the chief minister and there was manipulation in registering the report in Sadar PS Case No. 272 of 2023,” the court added.

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