The Jharkhand High Court on Friday granted bail to former Chief Minister Hemant Soren in a money-laundering case linked to an alleged land scam, noting that there was “no reason to believe” that he was guilty of the alleged offence, Bar and Bench reported.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader has been in jail since January 31, when he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the case. This was shortly after he resigned as the chief minister after being questioned by the central law enforcement agency.
The Enforcement Directorate has alleged that a “racket of land mafia” in Jharkhand was involved in tampering with official land records in Ranchi and Kolkata. Some of the land acquired through the forgery had illegally come into Soren’s possession, the agency alleged.
After the High Court pronounced its order on Friday, Soren was released from the Birsa Munda Jail in Ranchi, The Hindu reported. A large crowd of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha supporters cheered and shouted slogans in support of the former chief minister as he walked out of prison.
“I was kept behind bars for five months,” Soren told reporters upon his release, reported ANI. “We are seeing how the judicial process is taking years not just days or months...Today, it is a message for the whole country that how a conspiracy was hatched against us.”
Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay, while allowing Soren’s bail application on Friday, said that there was no evidence directly linking the former chief minister to the possession of the land parcel in question, Live Law reported.
“There is ‘reason to believe’ that the petitioner is not guilty of the offence,” the court said. “On an overall conspectus of the case there is no likelihood of the petitioner committing a similar nature of offence.”
The court said that the “twin test” for grant of bail, mandated in all cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, had been satisfied in Soren’s case.
Under section 45 of the Act, the twin test requires the court to first allow the public prosecutor to be heard. Bail is granted only after the court is satisfied that the accused person is not guilty and is unlikely to commit a similar offence upon their release.
The chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate on March 30 named Soren, Bhanu Pratap Prasad, Raj Kumar Pahan, Hilariyas Kachhap and Binod Singh as the accused persons in the alleged land scam. The central agency has also attached 8.86 acres of land allegedly owned by Soren.
The prime accused in the case is Prasad, a former Jharkhand revenue department official and custodian of government records.
According to the Enforcement Directorate, Prasad was part of a syndicate that acquired properties using illegal means, including by using force and falsifying government records.
Prasad “hatched conspiracies” with Soren, among others, to take over properties, the central agency claimed, according to The Indian Express. It claimed that details regarding the illegal acquiring and possession of properties were found on Prasad’s phone.
The central agency alleged that Soren acquired the land located at Baragain Anchal at Bariyatu Road in Ranchi through the proceeds of crime stemming from money-laundering. The agency also accused Soren of misusing his power and concealing evidence in the case after he was issued the first summons for questioning on August 7.
The former chief minister denied the Enforcement Directorate’s allegations, claiming that he has no link to the property and no relation with Prasad.
On May 22, Soren withdrew his petition in the Supreme Court challenging his arrest by the central agency in the case. He had moved the top court after the High Court initially rejected his bail petition.
The Supreme Court had said that the former chief minister had not disclosed that a special court had taken cognisance of the complaint filed by the Enforcement Directorate. A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act court in Ranchi had also rejected the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader’s petition for bail in the case on May 13.
Soren had then filed a fresh bail plea in the High Court on May 27. The High Court had on June 13 reserved its decision on a bail petition filed by Soren, PTI reported.
This is a developing story. It will be updated as new details are available.
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