Prominently, in a recent speaking judgment, the High Court of Jharkhand has released Hemant Soren, the former Chief Minister, from detention in the context of money laundering in a case related to a land scam. Arunabh Chowdhury the lawyer of Soren, said that the court acquitted the earlier CM of the alleged offence.
The high court had on June 13 refused to give an immediate ruling on Soren’s bail application. Chowdhury spoke to PTI, saying,
“Bail has been granted to Soren. It stated that prima facie it is seen that the accused is not guilty of the offense and there is no possibility of the petitioner committing an offense while on bail.”
Jharkhand Mukti Morra JMM, executive president Hemant Soren is arrested at the Birsa Munda jail in Ranchi. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on the thirty-first of January.
Soren’s lawyer, Senior Advocate Meenakshi Arora, had earlier claimed that a politically motivated and fabricated case was being made against the former Chieftain, who considered him a soft target.
For instance, the Enforcement Directorate, on the other hand, accused Soren of having abused his authority to amass 8. The recommendation was that the state government purchase 86 acres of land in the state capital.
Lead defense counsel SV Raju told the court that witnesses stated that Hemant Soren was involved in the tainted land transaction. It is also claimed that Soren’s media consultant, Abhishek Prasad, recorded a statement to the police in which he said that the former CM told him to forge records and alter the land ownership.
Another lawyer for Soren Kapil Sibal had urged the bench saying that allegedly amassed land was never an offense under the provisions of PMLA. He pointed out that even if the allegations were true, it was a matter of civil law to do with property issues, not criminal.
The bail granted to Hemant Soren has come close to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal being released in the Delhi excise policy case. However, through a ‘letter’ to Kappan, ED got a stay on the bail granted by the Delhi High Court. The CBI also arrested Kejriwal within a week regarding the same case.
