NEW DELHI, Jan 2: Hemant Soren, the former chief minister of Jharkhand, filed a plea on Friday challenging his detention in a money laundering case by the Enforcement Directorate, and the Supreme Court declined to intervene. Senior solicitors Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singhvi, arguing on behalf of Soren, were asked by a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna, M.M. Sundresh, and Bela M. Trivedi to petition the high court for relief. In his plea before the top court, JMM leader Hemant Soren accused the Enforcement Directorate (ED) of arresting him as part of a “well-orchestrated conspiracy” by the Centre ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, which are scheduled for months from now. Soren was forced to resign as chief minister of Jharkhand due to his impending arrest.Soren has asked the supreme court to declare his arrest to be unjustified, arbitrary, and a breach of his fundamental rights in his petition. In a money laundering case involving the “illegal” acquisition of substantial property tracts and an alleged affiliation with the “land mafia,” Soren was taken into custody on January 31. On Thursday a special PMLA court in Ranchi sent him to judicial prison for one day.
