New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India refuses the ED appellant against Chief Minister Hemant Soren of Jharkhand in an alleged land scam case on Monday. The Jharkhand High Court had on June 28 passed a bailable warrant for Soren and later granted bail, terming the court’s order as well reasoned.
The Supreme Court pointed out that the aspects that have been discussed by the Jharkhand High Court regarding the bail are going to be of no persuasive influence on the trial judge or any other proceeding that is undertaken in connection with the case. On July 8, the ED went to the Supreme Court, claiming that the bail order was illegal and prejudicial. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the lower instance, allowing Soren to continue working as a Chief Minister.
Hemant Soren had re-occupied the office at the back of getting bail from the high court early in July 4. His arrest by the ED on January 31 resulted from accusations of corruption in his ministerial office to procure 8. An area of 86 acres of land in Ranchi – the state capital of Jharkhand. The ED had issued multiple summonses to Soren prior to his arrest and also triggered his resignation from the organization on January 31. After this, one of his men, Champai Soren, assumed the leadership of the ruling coalition, and he, indeed, was a loyal ally of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chancellor.
Under Defence Counsel Kapil Sibal, Soren pleaded that the alleged land grabbing did not amount to an offense under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Sibal argued that even if the facts stated by the complainant were true, the disputes could not be criminal but were civil in nature, involving the title of the property.
While Soren was in detention, his party, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), performed significantly well in the Lok Sabha elections and bagged three seats this time, up from one in the previous year.
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