Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren: JMM leader Soren gets bail from High Court (File).
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.
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.
The bail order today comes after a twin setback last month.
First, the Ranchi special court denied Mr Soren bail.
Then, in the Supreme Court, 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.
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There was also confusion over a prior bail plea – dismissed – in the High Court, which then pointed to an “abundance of documents that lay foundation for the arrest and remand of petitioner”.
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.
The Supreme Court setback meant Mr Soren – unlike Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, arrested by the ED in the alleged liquor policy scam – could not campaign for his party, and the Congress-led INDIA opposition bloc, in the April-June Lok Sabha election.
Mr Kejriwal had been granted bail by the top court to campaign for the AAP.
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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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