Hemant Soren will be in jail during the ongoing Lok Sabha polls 2024 as the Supreme Court on May 22 refused to entertain his plea challenging his own arrest by the ED in a money laundering case. 

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief was arrested on January 1. On May 21, Soren's lawyer senior advocate Kapil Sibal sought an adjournment after the court questioned him on how Soren could have challenged the constitutional validity of his arrest, while the special court had taken cognizance of the offense. 

The court also asked if the arrest could be challenged after the special court rejected Soren's bail plea. While Sibal tried to draw parity with Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s case, the court said Soren's case was different as the court was yet to take cognizance in AAP leader’s case. 

The court raised the question on the maintainability of the plea before adjourning the case on Sibal's request. Soren approached the court twice before. 

On May 10, the court had disposed of his plea challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Soren moved the top court after the Jharkhand High Court didn’t pass an order on his bail plea despite reserving the decision in February. 

The high court on May 3 denied him bail as it passed the order, making the plea in SC infructuous.