The Jharkhand High Court granted bail to former Chief Minister Hemant Soren in a money laundering case. Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in January.
Hearing the bail plea, the High Court observed that prima facie, Soren is not guilty of the offence he is accused of. "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.
The former chief minister was arrested for his alleged involvement in a land scam case and he is accused of acquiring over eight acres of land forging land documents. Soren was arrested after he failed to respond to eight of 10 ED summonses and he has been questioned by the agency thrice.
The 48-year-old politician is currently lodged in Birsa Munda jail. During the hearing, ED's counsel S.V. Raju argued that if Soren is released on bail, he would commit a similar offence.
-with inputs from agencies.
