Hemant Soren moves SC against rejection of his plea challenging arrest by ED
New Delhi (PTI): Former Chief Minister Hemant Soren moved the Supreme Court on Monday against the Jharkhand High Court order dismissing his application challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.
Appearing before a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, senior advocate Kapil Sibal mentioned the matter seeking urgent listing of his plea.
Sibal said polling in Jharkhand for the Lok Sabha elections will commence on May 13 and Soren should be allowed to campaign for his party JMM.
"Hemant Soren was arrested on January 31. We moved the high court on February 4. The high court reserved the judgment on February 28 but did not deliver the judgement. The High Court kept the judgment pending for long.
"The first phase of election starts in the state on the May 13 and so we moved this court under Article 32 of the Constitution, and notice was issued last week. After the notice was issued, the high court delivered the judgment rejecting his plea. Its very unfortunate that rights are being trampled in this fashion," Sibal said.
The bench, also comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said it would look at the request and that Soren's plea for interim bail was set to come up for hearing on May 7.
Sibal said his appeal against the high court judgment should also be listed along with the bail plea.
The Jharkhand High Court had on Friday dismissed Soren's writ petition challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and denied bail to him.
Soren is at present lodged in judicial custody at the Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi. He was sent to jail on February 15 after his 13-day ED custody ended.
The top court had on April 29 sought a response from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Soren's interim bail plea in the case.
The ED has alleged that "huge amounts of proceeds of crime" were generated by Soren through manipulation of official records by showing dummy sellers and purchasers in the guise of forged/bogus documents to acquire huge parcels of land having value in crores of rupees.
Soren was arrested on January 31 after he resigned as the Jharkhand chief minister, and party loyalist and state transport minister Champai Soren was named as his successor.
The development came ahead of the Lok Sabha elections which were announced on March 16.
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Ordinance issued to increase number of Supreme Court judges from 34 to 38
New Delhi (PTI): The government has promulgated an ordinance to increase the strength of the Supreme Court from the present 34 judges to 38, including the Chief Justice of India.
The law ministry notified the ordinance on Saturday, which amended the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, to increase the sanctioned strength of the top court.
So far, the sanctioned strength of the top court was 34, including the Chief Justice of India (CJI). Now, the number of judges has been increased by four, taking the sanctioned strength to 38.
The top court will now have 37 judges, other than the CJI.
With the apex court having two vacancies at present, and the ordinance coming into force immediately, the Supreme Court Collegium will now have to recommend six names for appointment as judges in the top court.
A bill will be brought in the Monsoon Session of Parliament to convert the ordinance – an executive order – into a law passed by Parliament.
The Union Cabinet had cleared a draft bill on May 5 to increase the number of apex court judges.
The strength of the Supreme Court was last increased from 30 to 33 (excluding the CJI) in 2019.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, as originally enacted in 1956, put the maximum number of judges (excluding the CJI) at 10.
This number was increased to 13 by the Supreme Court (Number of Judges), Amendment Act, 1960, and to 17 by another amendment to the law.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 1986, augmented the strength of judges from 17 to 25, excluding the CJI.
A fresh amendment in 2009 further increased the strength from 25 to 30.
Article 124(3) of the Constitution lists the qualifications required to become a Supreme Court judge.
An Indian citizen who has either served as a high court judge for at least five years, or as an advocate for 10 years, or is a distinguished jurist, can be appointed to the top court.
The strength of the Supreme Court is increased based on the recommendations of the CJI, who writes to the Union law minister. After consulting the finance ministry, the Department of Justice under the law ministry moves the Cabinet with a draft bill.
