Jharkhand HC Seeks ED’s Response on Hemant Soren’s Bail Plea

The Jharkhand High Court on Tuesday directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to file a response to the bail application filed by former chief minister Hemant Soren.

Hemant Soren, who was apprehended by the Enforcement Directorate on January 31 in relation to a money-laundering case tied to an alleged land scam, lodged the plea before the high court on Monday, urging an expedited hearing of the case.

“Victim of Political Conspiracy’

Representing Soren before Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay’s bench, senior advocate Kapil Sibal contended that the JMM leader was a victim of political conspiracy.

The court directed the ED to furnish a reply in the matter and scheduled June 10 as the subsequent date for the hearing. In his plea, Soren asserted that his name does not appear in any documents concerning the 8.5 acres of land in the Bargain circle, and no violation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) is evident against him.

He further contended that the ED was solely relying on the statements of certain individuals who asserted ownership of the land parcel to him, yet there was “no documentation substantiating such claims”.

Resignation from CM Post

Soren, who resigned as chief minister prior to his arrest on January 31, is currently incarcerated in Birsa Munda Jail in Hotwar, the state capital Ranchi. He stands accused of orchestrating the falsification of land documents for a plot in Bargain, Ranchi. Soren argued that the land’s rightful owner was Raj Kumar Pahan, who had lodged a complaint with the Bargain Circle office alleging encroachment on his land by unidentified individuals.

The petition underscored that Pahan did not mention Hemant Soren’s name anywhere, yet the ED initiated legal proceedings asserting that the land was under Soren’s possession.

Setback from Apex Court

On May 22, Soren experienced a setback as the Supreme Court declined to grant him any relief, admonishing him for “suppressing material facts” in his plea concerning his arrest in the money laundering case associated with the alleged land scam.

A vacation bench comprising justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma permitted Soren’s counsel Kapil Sibal to withdraw the petitions for interim bail for Lok Sabha poll campaigning and against his arrest, as the apex court indicated its inclination to dismiss them due to Soren’s failure to approach the court with clean hands.

The court highlighted that Soren had not informed it about the April 4 order issued by the special PMLA court, which had taken cognizance of the prosecution complaint. Additionally, it noted that Soren’s regular bail petition was filed on April 15 and dismissed on May 13, 2024.

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