Next HC hearing on Soren’s plea against ED on Feb 27, PMLA court extends his ED remand by three days

RANCHI: The High Court of Jharkhand on Monday adjourned the hearing on a petition filed by arrested ex-chief minister Hemant Soren against the Enforcement Directorate (ED) till February 27.

The court will again hear the plea on that day.

It asked the federal agency to file a consolidated affidavit.

Advocate General Rajeev Ranjan said they had challenged the arrest of the former chief minister, and the high court allowed their amended application to be submitted.

“ED has been directed to give a consolidated reply. The court has fixed February 27 as the date for final disposal. The amendment to our application has been allowed...Now the hearing will be on the turn of events (leading to Hemant Soren’s arrest). This is a good indication, now we can place all the facts before the court,” Ranjan, Soren’s counsel, said.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal argued on behalf of Soren.

Additional solicitor general SV Raju appeared on behalf of the Central agency.

The high court had on February 5 asked the Central agency to file its reply on Soren’s petition.

A special PMLA court on Monday extended the ED remand of former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren by three days in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam, lawyers said.

The Enforcement Directorate prayed for four days of remand of the JMM leader.

The JMM leader was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on January 31 in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land fraud.

On February 2, he was remanded to ED custody by a special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court in Ranchi for five days. Later, the court had on February 7 extended the ED remand of the former chief minister by five days in money laundering case.