The Supreme Court will today hear the petition filed by former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren against his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with alleged land scam.
A special three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices MM Sundresh, Sanjiv Khanna and Bela M Trivedi will hear the case beginning 10.30 am.
Mr Soren was arrested on Wednesday by the investigating agency following which he was sent to one day judicial custody on Thursday after he was produced before the PMLA court in capital city Ranchi.
In the mean time, Champai Soren, a veteran from Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) will take oath as the Chief Minister of state today between 12 pm and 2 pm. His name was suggested by Hemant Soren as his successor.
On Thursday, Jharkhand Governor CP Radhakrishnan appointed Champai Soren as the Chief Minister and asked him to take oath. However, Mr Radhakrishnan has even asked Mr Champai to prove his majority within 10 days.
As per the latest causelist of the top court, the special three-judge bench was constituted by CJI Chandrachud.
Mr Hemant Soren has even urged the top court to quash the summons issued to him by ED, terming them “illegal and impinge on his fundamental rights”.
Meanwhile, the BJP on Thursday denounced the protests led by supporters of Hemant Soren who have accused the Centre of harassing the tribal leader.
However, defending the Centre former Union Minister and senior leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the former Chief Minister was arrested for his involvement in “corruption and loot” across the state, adding, “the (PM) Narendra Modi government cares a lot about the tribal society”.
