HC grants bail to former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren in land scam case
HC grants bail to former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren in land scam case
NEW DELHI: The Jharkhand high court on Friday granted bail to former chief minister Hemant Soren in the alleged land scam case.
The court had reserved its order on June 13 on JMM chief'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," Soren's advocate Arunabh Chowdhury said.
During the hearing central agency argued against granting bail to Soren, suggesting that he might reoffend, citing cases involving ED officers at the SC/ST police station.
The order was issued by a single bench presided over by Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay.
Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, representing Soren, argued that he was being unfairly targeted in a politically motivated and fabricated case.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, also representing Soren, strongly contended for his bail, claiming he was falsely implicated by the ED.
Opposing the bail plea, the ED alleged that Soren abused his position as chief minister to unlawfully acquire 8.86 acres in Bargain Anchal in the state capital.
The ED counsel asserted that witnesses examined by the federal agency confirmed the former CM's involvement in the illegal land deal.
The agency claimed that Soren's media consultant, Abhishek Prasad, admitted that the former CM instructed him to manipulate official records to change the ownership details of the plot.
Furthermore, the ED stated that the original landowner, Raj Kumar Pahan, attempted to file a complaint when his land was being seized, but no action was taken.
Following a prolonged hide-and-seek scenario, Soren was apprehended by the Enforcement Directorate in January in connection with the land scam case.
The investigation centers on significant amounts of proceeds of crime generated through the forgery of official records, involving 'fake sellers' and purchasers through falsified or counterfeit documents to acquire vast parcels of land valued at crores.
The 48-year-old politician is currently lodged in Birsa Munda jail.
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