In a big relief for former Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Jharkhand High Court on Friday granted him bail in the land scam case. The 48-year-old leader is currently lodged in Birsa Munda jail.
“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,” Soren’s senior counsel Arunabh Chowdhury told PTI.
During the hearing, ED’s counsel SV Raju argued that if Soren is released on bail, he would commit a similar offence.
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Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on January 31 in a money laundering case related to illegal possession of 8.36 acres of land after he resigned as Jharkhand CM.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) party loyalist and state transport minister Champai Soren was named as his successor.
What is the land scam case?
The ED had been investigating various cases in Jharkhand, including illegal mining, a MGNREGA ‘scam’ of 2009, and the alleged illegal sale and purchase of an Army plot in Ranchi. It was during the Army land investigation that the name of then revenue sub-inspector of Bargaain Circle Office, Bhanu Pratap Prasad, popped up. Prasad was eventually linked to Soren.
Also Read: Former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren withdraws bail plea after SC refuses to entertain it
The ED claimed that Prasad was part of a syndicate involved in acquiring properties illegally, through force as well as by falsifying government records. According to the agency, Prasad was the custodian of several original registers — also known as Panji 2 — in which land records (particularly ownership details) were falsified.
According to the ED, Soren is among the people Bhanu Pratap “hatched conspiracies with” to take over properties. The agency alleged that details of the illegally acquired/possessed properties have been found on Bhanu Pratap’s mobile phone. While the Bhanu Pratap Prasad was in custody, his phone’s data was extracted, and several chats related to cash transactions, illegal benefits to others in acquiring land, etc., were identified, the ED claimed.
Several original land records were recovered from Prasad. His phone contained an image of an 8.36-acre land parcel which was allegedly in Soren’s illegal possession.