After Kejriwal, Hemant Soren also sought interim bail for election campaign, Supreme Court gave this answer

Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, arrested in a money laundering case, sought interim bail from the Supreme Court for election campaign, on which the court has sought a reply from the ED by May 20.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta also asked the ED to file a short reply on Soren’s plea against his arrest and listed the matter before a vacation bench on May 21. Appearing for Soren, senior advocate Kapil Sibal told the court that if granted interim bail, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader will surrender on June 2.

What did the ED say?

Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, who appeared for the ED in the case, said Soren was arrested long ago and has not even challenged the rejection of his regular bail plea. Soren was arrested in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam after he resigned as Jharkhand chief minister on January 31.

Former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren is being probed on charges of money laundering in connection with the illegal mining case as well as the alleged land scam in the state capital Ranchi. The ED is probing both the cases and has alleged that about 8.5 acres of property has been found under crime. It has also accused Soren of illegal possession of land.