New Delhi:

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Jharkhand High Court’s order granting bail to JMM leader Hemant Soren in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.

The high court had on June 28 granted bail to Mr Soren, who on July 4 took oath as the chief minister of Jharkhand.

Mr Soren, the executive president of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), had resigned as chief minister shortly before his arrest on January 31 by the ED in the case.

Earlier during the hearing in the high court, ED’s counsel had argued that if Mr Soren was released on bail, he might commit a similar offence and referred to cases against ED officers in the SC/ST police station.

“Though the conduct of the petitioner has been sought to be highlighted by the Enforcement Directorate on account of the First Information Report instituted by the petitioner against the officials of the ED, but on an overall conspectus of the case, there is no likelihood of the petitioner committing a similar nature of offence,” the high court had said.

The single bench order had also mentioned that the consequence of the findings recorded by the court “satisfies the condition as at section 45 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 to the effect that there is reason to believe that the petitioner is not guilty of the offence as alleged”.

Mr Soren was summoned multiple times by the ED before being questioned at his residence and subsequently arrested on January 31. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Ranchi:

Ex-Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has been granted bail by the High Court. “Bail is granted. The court held, prima facie, Hemant Soren is not guilty, and there is no likelihood of the petitioner committing an offence on bail,” Mr Soren’s counsel Arunabh Chowdhury, told news agency PTI.

Given there are no other cases against him at this time, Mr Soren may be released soon.

Bail was reportedly granted on payment of two sureties of Rs 50,000 each.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on January 31 on money laundering charges. The ED has accused him of running a scheme to manipulate records, via fictitious transactions and forged documents, and acquire 8.86 acres of land in Ranchi worth crores.

Mr Soren has repeatedly denied the charges against him, and has accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of framing his arrest – which was weeks before the Lok Sabha election – to derail the opposition.

The bail order today comes after setbacks last month.

First, the Ranchi special court had denied Mr Soren bail.

That was followed by the High Court rejecting a plea to quash his arrest. The court pointed to an “abundance of documents that lay foundation for the arrest and remand of petitioner”.

Mr Soren was also told he could not “wiggle out of the mess he created for himself’. 

Following that the Supreme Court also refused interim bail; this was sought on grounds Mr Soren needed to campaign for his party, and the Congress-led INDIA opposition bloc, in the Lok Sabha polls.

READ | No Interim Bail Yet For Hemant Soren. He Cited Kejriwal’s Example

That setback meant Hemant Soren – unlike his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, arrested by the ED in the alleged liquor policy scam but given interim bail by the top court – could not campaign.

, the Jharkhand leader was forced to withdraw an interim bail plea after tough questions over non-disclosure of facts; the focus was on Mr Soren not revealing the special court – which hears cases related to money laundering – had taken cognisance of the complaint against him.

READ | “Misused State Machinery”: ED On Soren’s Top Court Bail Plea

In that hearing the ED argued Mr Soren had tried to subvert the investigation by “misusing state machinery” and so opposed his “special prayer” for interim bail to campaign in the Lok Sabha polls.

There was also confusion over a prior bail plea – dismissed – in the High Court, which then pointed to an

NDTV Explains | Hemant Soren’s 2 Bail Pleas And A Rap By Supreme Court

This was after the Supreme Court issued a notice to the central agency and sought its response to an interim bail plea filed before it on grounds the High Court was delaying delivery of its judgement.

Mr Kejriwal had been granted bail by the top court to campaign for the AAP.

READ | 9 Acre Illegal Land, BMW Car: What Report On Soren’s Claims

Hemant Soren resigned as Chief Minister on January 31, hours after the ED began a marathon questioning session and then informed him he would be arrested.

READ | Soren Refused To Sign Arrest Memo Until He Resigned: Sources

Mr Soren, however, refused to accept the arrest memo till he had quit his post, in order to avoid being the first sitting Chief Minister to be arrested.

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New Delhi:

The Enforcement Directorate, in their chargesheet, has alleged a web of corruption and manipulation in a Rs 600 crore land scam in which former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren is an accused. The chargesheet names Hemant Soren, revenue officer Bhanu Pratap Prasad, and two other government employees as accused.

Mr Soren is being investigated in connection with an alleged racket of illegal change of land ownership by the mafia in Jharkhand. He resigned as Jharkhand Chief Minister just before his arrest.

According to the chargesheet accessed by NDTV, statements and documents in the case confirmed that Hemant Soren was part of the ‘land mafia’ and enjoyed the proceeds of the crime.

During the probe, officials found a 44-page file in Mr Pratap’s office, containing crucial information regarding an 8.86-acre land owned by Hemant Soren. The chargesheet mentions that Mr Pratap used to refer to Mr Soren as ‘boss’.

Hemant Soren had illegally occupied the 8.86-acre land in the Bargain area of Ranchi since 2011, the agency claimed.

The property, now valued at Rs 31 crores, has been seized by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The occupation of this land allegedly occurred through Hemant Soren’s close aides Ranjit Singh, Hilarius Kachhap, and Rajkumar, as per ED’s findings.

According to ED, Bhanu Pratap was part of a syndicate altering government land documents to facilitate land grabs, with involvement from several government officials, including Hemant Soren.

ED included photos of two surveys conducted on the property, implicating Bhanu Pratap among the accused.

The caretaker of the property, Santosh Munda, affirmed its ownership under “Minister Ji”, referring to Hemant Soren.

A photo retrieved from accused Binod Kumar’s mobile revealed plans for constructing a bank hall on the property.

Hemant Soren, in his statement to ED, claimed ignorance regarding the property and remained tight-lipped about his chats with Binod.

Bhanu Pratap referred to Hemant Soren as his boss and orchestrated the land grab on the 8.86 acres, manipulating government records, the agency claims.

Diaries and messages on another accused’s phone show financial transactions involving Bhanu Pratap.

ED has collected statements from 33 witnesses and seized thousands of pages of documents.

From Hemant Soren’s residence in Delhi, Rs 36 lakh cash and a BMW car were confiscated.

ED has now seized properties worth Rs 256 crore rupees which were illegally seized by this ‘syndicate’.

So far, 16 accused have been arrested in connection with this case, including Hemant Soren and former Ranchi DC, IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan.

Mr Soren has denied the allegations against him and accused the BJP of abusing probe agencies to destabilise democratically elected governments.