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28 June 2024
The Jharkhand High Court has granted bail to former chief minister Hemant Soren in a money laundering case linked to the land scam. His lawyer, Arunabh Chowdhury, has claimed that the court found him not guilty of the offence.
This is a big relief for ex CM Hemant Soren and his party , JMM, ahead of the Assembly polls in the state in November- December 2024.
The high court had on June 13 reserved its decision on Soren'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," he told PTI.
Get ready to catch the final stages of the World Cup only on Crickit. Anytime, Anywhere. Explore now! Hemant Soren is currently lodged in the Birsa Munda jail in Ranchi. He is the executive president of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).
Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on January 31. His lawyer, senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, had argued that Soren was being unfairly targeted in what she described as a politically motivated and fabricated case. The Enforcement Directorate had told the court that he misused his position to acquire 8.86 acres of land in the state capital.
ED counsel SV Raju claimed that witnesses had confirmed Hemant Soren's involvement in the illegal land deal. Soren's media consultant Abhishek Prasad admitted that the former CM instructed him to manipulate official records to change the ownership details of the land, he added.
