Ex-Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren was released from jail after he was granted bail by the High Court in a land scam case this morning. "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," his 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 granted on payment of a bail bond of Rs 50,000 and two sureties of the same amount 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.
In its order, the court said "...broad probabilities (of the case) do not specifically, or indirectly, assign the petitioner to be involved in the acquisition and possession, as well as concealment (of land)".
Reasoning that "none of the revenue records bare imprint of direct involvement of petitioner in acquisition and possession of said land", the court the ED's claim "seems to be ambiguous when considered against the backdrop of allegation the land was already acquired and possessed by petitioner... from year 2010 onwards".
The court also reasoned "there is no likelihood of the petitioner committing a similar nature of offence" and said twin conditions for grant of bail under the PMLA had, therefore, been satisfied.
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
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.
READ |"Misused State Machinery": ED On Soren's Top Court Bail Plea
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.
Mr Kejriwal had been granted bail by the top court to campaign for the AAP.
The Jharkhand leader was forced to withdraw another Supreme Court plea - challenging his arrest - after tough questions over non-disclosure of facts; the focus was on not revealing that the special court - which hears money laundering cases - had taken cognisance of the complaint against him.
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.
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.
With input from agencies
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