SC sets up special bench to hear Hemant Soren's plea against ED arrest

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday set up a special three-judge bench to hear former Jharkhand chief minister and JMM leader Hemant Soren's plea against his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case.

A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, M M Sundresh and Bela M Trivedi will hear the plea of jailed JMM leader at 10.30 am on Friday.

According to the updated causelist of the apex court, the special bench has been set up by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud in pursuance to the observations made by him earlier in the day when senior lawyers Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singhvi mentioned Soren's plea for urgent listing.

The CJI assured the lawyers that the plea will be listed for hearing on Friday.

Soren, who was arrested on Wednesday night after resigning as the Jharkhand chief minister, had first moved the state high court challenging his arrest in the case.

Acting Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Anubha Rawat Choudhary of the Jharkhand High Court were scheduled to hear Soren's plea at 10.30 am on Thursday.

However, Sibal and Singhvi told the CJI-led bench that the plea will be withdrawn from the high court. "We will keep it tomorrow..," the CJI said.

Soren was arrested on Wednesday after a marathon seven-hour grilling by the ED in the case.