Jharkhand High Court grants bail to former CM Hemant Soren in land scam case
Hemant Soren (File photo)
Jharkhand High Courtgranted bail to former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren in the land scam case on Friday (June 28).
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested Soren on January 31on accusations of manipulating records through fabricated transactions and using fake documents to acquire land.
Soren resigned as the Chief Minister after ED's interrogation on January 31.
Soren’s lawyer, Arunabh Chowdhury has claimed that the court has found him not guilty of the offence.
Earlier on June 13, the high court had reserved its decision on Soren's bail plea.
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"Bail has been granted to Hemant Soren. The court has found him not guilty of the offence and there is no likelihood of the petitioner committing an offence when on bail," Arunabh Chowdhury told PTI.
Hemant Soren is currently in the Birsa Munda jail in Ranchi. He is the executive president of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).
His lawyer, senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, argued that Soren was being wrongly targeted in a case she describedas politically motivated and fabricated.
However, the ED had told the court that Soren misused his position and power 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.
Case against Hemant Soren
The investigation against Jharkhand former Chief Minister Hemant Soren is related to an 8.86-acre plot of land in Ranchi that the ED has alleged was illegally acquired by him.
The money laundering investigation stems from multiple FIRs registered by Jharkhand Police in land scam cases against several people, including state government officials.
The ED is investigating the alleged "large amounts of illicit proceeds generated through the manipulation of official records by presenting dummy sellers and buyers using forged or bogus documents to acquire vast parcels of land worth crores."
(With inputs from agencies)