SC Rejects ED's Plea Challenging Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren's Bail in Money Laundering Case

Ranchi: The Supreme Court has dismissed the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) plea challenging the High Court's order granting bail to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren in money laundering case.

A bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan stated that the high court's June 28 order was "very well reasoned" and decided not to interfere with it.

Soren, the executive president of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), had stepped down as chief minister just before his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on January 31 in connection with the case. After being released on bail, he resumed his role as chief minister on July 4.

The ED opposed Soren's bail plea, alleging that he had misused his position to "unlawfully" acquire 8.86 acres of land in the Bargain area of Ranchi, the state capital. Soren's lawyer argued that the central agency had falsely implicated him.

The ED claimed that during the investigation, Soren’s media consultant, Abhishek Prasad, admitted that Soren had instructed him to alter official records to change the ownership details of the plot. Additionally, the agency alleged that the original landowner, Raj Kumar Pahan, had attempted to file a complaint about his land being taken but that the complaint was not acted upon.

Soren was summoned multiple times by the ED before being questioned at his residence and subsequently arrested on January 31.