Jharkhand High Court Grants Bail To Former CM Hemant Soren In Alleged Money Laundering Case Involving Illegal Land Possession

The Jharkhand High Court has granted bail to former Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Friday in an alleged money laundering case involving the illegal possession of 8.36 acres of land.The Court observed that there was no evidence directly linking Soren to the possession of the land in question and that the ED's statements that their intervention prevented illegal possession of the land were ambiguous.The Court further observed that in this case, the twin conditions under Section 45 of the PMLA had been satisfied and hence Soren had to be released.The bench of Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay observed in the order : "The overall conspectus of the case based on broad probabilities does not specifically or indirectly assign the petitioner to be involved in the acquisition and possession as well as concealment of 8.86 acres of land at Shanti Nagar, Baragain, Ranchi connected to the “proceeds of crime”. None of the registers/revenue records bare imprint of the direct involvement of the petitioner in the acquisition and possession of the said land...The consequence of the findings recorded by this Court satisfies the condition as at Section 45 PMLA, 2002 to the effect that there is “reason to believe” that the petitioner is not guilty of the offence as alleged."Soren was arrested on January 31 after resigning as Jharkhand chief minister, with state transport minister Champai Soren named as his successor. He had filed a fresh application in the Jharkhand High Court seeking regular bail last month urging for an immediate hearing on the matter.The case originated with the arrest of Bhanu Pratap Prasad, a land revenue inspector from the Badhgaain area, in 2023. Prasad was allegedly part of a land-grab syndicate that falsified original land records. Several original land records were recovered from Prasad, along with an image on his phone showing an 8.36-acre land parcel allegedly in Soren's illegal possession.Soren's arrest followed his failure to respond to eight out of ten Enforcement Directorate (ED) summonses. He had been questioned three times by the agencies, starting in November 2021 in connection with an alleged illegal mining case.The second and third summons, on January 20 and 31 respectively, were related to alleged proceeds of crime from the sale and purchase of Army land in Ranchi, a case in which IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan is also an accused. The ED investigation uncovered the illegal sale and purchase of another 8-acre land parcel in Ranchi's Bargai area. A detailed order is awaited.Notably, the Supreme Court had earlier refused to consider Soren's plea for interim bail, after which his plea for bail before the Apex Court was dismissed as withdrawn. #JharkhandHighCourt has granted bail to former CM Hemant Soren in an alleged money laundering case involving illegal land possession.The Court observed that there was no evidence directly linking Soren to the possession of the land in question and that the ED's statements that… https://t.co/IxQbeKesFr pic.twitter.com/KUY2H7GYbQ— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) June 28, 2024 Click here to read the judgment LL Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Pat) 99

Jharkhand High Court Grants Bail To Former CM Hemant Soren In Alleged Money Laundering Case Involving Illegal Land Possession

Bhavya Singh

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