The Jharkhand High Court on Wednesday denied permission to former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren to attend the Budget Session of the Jharkhand Assembly. The court ruled that the Constitutional rights of an individual are suspended when he is under judicial custody.
Earlier, on Monday, February 26, a hearing was held in the court of Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad in the petition seeking permission for former CM Hemant Soren, who is jailed in a land scam case, to attend the budget session of the Assembly. The court had reserved the decision after completing the hearing of both the parties. Hemant Soren has challenged the denial of permission by the PMLA Court in the High Court.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Hemant Soren in virtual mode, had said that Hemant Soren is not charge-sheeted. He is an elected public representative and former CM of Jharkhand. It is his constitutional right to participate in the Assembly session. A money bill has to be passed in the Jharkhand Assembly, in which Hemant Soren must stay in the House. Sibal also said that the budget session is very short.
Participating in the hearing in virtual mode, ASGI SV Raju on behalf of ED had said that there are serious allegations against Soren in the money laundering case. He had also spoken against the judiciary inside the House when he was allowed to attend the special session on February 05 for the floor test of the
government. It was also said that an individual’s Constitutional rights are suspended if the person is in judicial custody. The special PMLA court had not allowed Hemant Soren to attend the budget session.
The PMLA court on February 22 had rejected Soren’s petition seeking permission to attend the Budget Session of Assembly.
Soren is currently lodged in Birsa Munda Central Jail in connection with a money laundering case linked to the illegal grabbing of a prime land plot measuring 8.5 acres in Ranchi.
Follow us
