Hemant Soren, the JMM leader and former Chief Minister of Jharkhand, has been granted bail by the Jharkhand High Court in connection to a money laundering case related to a land scam.
Significantly, Soren who was allegedly involved in a land scam case, was granted bail by Jharkhand High Court six months post his arrest by the ED. He was arrested on January 31, 2024 from the Ranchi Raj Bhavan, minutes after he resigned as chief minister.
Today's order
The high court had previously reserved its decision on Soren's bail plea on June 13. Announcing the court's decision, senior counsel Arunabh Chowdhury stated, "Bail has been granted to Soren. The court has held that prima facie he is not guilty of the offence and there is no likelihood of the petitioner committing an offence while on bail."
The Hearing
It is pertinent to note that during the hearing, both Soren's defence team and the ED presented their arguments, after which the court reserved its order. Soren had requested an expedited hearing from the high court.
Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, representing Soren, earlier argued that he was being unfairly targeted in what she described as a politically motivated and fabricated case. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, also representing Soren, argued vigorously for his client's bail, asserting that Soren was falsely implicated by the ED.
However, the ED, opposing the bail plea, accused Soren of misusing his position as chief minister to unlawfully acquire 8.86 acres of land in Bargain anchal in the state capital. The ED's counsel also argued that witnesses examined by the agency had confirmed Soren's involvement in the illegal land deal.
Further, the agency claimed that during the investigation, Soren's media consultant, Abhishek Prasad, also admitted that Soren had instructed him to manipulate official records to change the ownership details of the plot. Furthermore, the ED stated that the original owner of the land, Raj Kumar Pahan, had attempted to file a complaint when his land was being taken over, but no action was taken. Instead, a boundary wall was constructed around the plot, and a caretaker was appointed to stay on the land.
The case
The central agency conducted an independent survey of the land parcel and questioned the caretaker, Santosh Munda, who allegedly stated that the plot belonged to Hemant Soren. The ED also interrogated architect Vinod Kumar, claiming that the proposed plan for constructing a banquet hall was recovered from his mobile phone, and the location and dimensions matched the Bargain plot.
Soren had been summoned multiple times by the ED before being questioned at his residence and subsequently arrested on January 31.
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