Jharkhand high court grants bail to Hemant Soren in land scam case

The Jharkhand High Court has granted bail to former chief minister Hemant Soren in a money laundering case linked to the land scam. His lawyer, Arunabh Chowdhury, has claimed that the court found him not guilty of the offence. The high court had on June 13 reserved its decision on Soren's bail plea.

"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 when on bail," he told PTI.

Hemant Soren is currently lodged in the Birsa Munda jail in Ranchi.

He is the executive president of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).

Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on January 31.

His lawyer, senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, had argued that Soren was being unfairly targeted in what she described as a politically motivated and fabricated case.

The Enforcement Directorate had told the court that he misused his position to acquire 8.86 acres of land in the state capital.

ED counsel SV Raju claimed that witnesses had confirmed Hemant Soren's involvement in the illegal land deal.

Soren's media consultant Abhishek Prasad admitted that the former CM instructed him to manipulate official records to change the ownership details of the land, he added.

ED had summoned Hemant Soren several times before arresting him on January 31.

His lawyer, Kapil Sibal, had argued before the court that the alleged land grabbing wasn't an offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)/

He further argued that even if the allegations were true, they would be a matter of civil dispute over property rights, not criminal activity.

Sibal alleged that the criminal proceedings were driven by ulterior motives aimed at keeping Soren incarcerated.

Hemant Soren had to resign as the chief minister of Jharkhand before being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate. His loyalist, Champai Soren, became the chief minister of the state.

The bail comes days after Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal got bail in the Delhi excise policy case. However, the Enforcement Directorate later secured a stay on the bail order from the Delhi high court. Later, the CBI arrested him in connection with the same case.

Unlike Hemant Soren, Kejriwal hasn't relinquished his post.

With inputs from PTI