Ranchi
In a big relief for former Chief Minister Hemant Soren, the Jharkhand High Court on Friday granted bail to him ruling out opposition from the Enforcement Directorate. He was released from the Birsa Munda Central Jail in Hotwar a few hours after the court’s order.
Hemant, who is the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha executive president, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on January 31 on money laundering charges and has since been in jail. The ED has accused him of acquiring 8.86 acres of land worth crores in Ranchi by manipulating records, fictitious transactions and forged documents. Hemant has refuted all the allegations and termed the ED action as one out of political vendetta.
“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,” Hemant’s Soren’s counsel Arunabh Chowdhury was quoted by news agency PTI.
The order was issued by a single bench presided over by Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay. The court granted the bail on two sureties of ₹50,000 each.
Appearing on behalf of ED, senior advocate, SV Raju had objected to the bail plea stating that Hemant is an influential person and had earlier tried to protect himself by using the state machinery. “If granted bail, he may try to obstruct the investigation by misusing the state machinery.” The ED counsel also asserted that witnesses examined by it confirmed the former CM’s involvement in the illegal land deal.
Raju had said during the hearings that since Hemant Soren is the largest beneficiary of the scam, he should not be granted bail.
Senior Supreme Court advocates Kapil Sibal and Meenakshi Arora, who represented Hemant, had contended that there was no case of money laundering, but one of ‘political vendetta’. “This is a malicious prosecution by the Central government by misusing the ED,” they maintained, seeking his bail.
Earlier, the Ranchi special court had denied him bail which followed with the High Court also rejecting a plea to quash his arrest. The court pointed to an “abundance of documents that lay foundation for the arrest and remand of petitioner”. Subsequently, the Supreme Court too refused interim bail which was sought on grounds of the need to campaign for his party and INDIA bloc in the Lok Sabha polls.
As for the political implications of Hemant’s arrest, his wife Kalpana took a plunge in electoral politics in his absence and won the Assembly bypoll from Gandey seat even as the JMM and Congress of the INDIA bloc won all the five ST Lok Sabha seats in the recently held polls. Tribal sentiments against Hemant’s arrest were one of the reasons cited behind the BJP’s failure to win any of the ST seats.
Soon after news broke out, celebrations began in Ranchi as JMM workers distributed sweets at the residence of the former Jharkhand Chief Minister.
One of the first to react, West Bengal Chief Minister took to X to state: “Hemant Soren, an important tribal leader, and Chief Minister of Jharkhand, had to resign because of a case, but today he has received bail from the Hon’ble High Court! I am very happy with the great development and am sure that he will start his public activities immediately. Welcome back, Hemant, amidst us!”
Chief Minister Champai Soren said truth can be harassed but not defeated.
NCP-SCP supremo Sharad Pawar also hailed the High Court’s order and said the victory of the truth is not far away. “Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren was jailed in a politically motivated case. The 149-day struggle got justice today. Bail granted to Hemant Soren by the court has strengthened the feeling that the victory of truth is not far away. We will continue to demand from the NDA government, that it should not take any action out of vindictiveness and should take efforts to ensure that democracy flourishes as per the constitution,” Pawar wrote on X.
AAp MP Sanjay Singh told mediapersons, “I want to congratulate Hemant Soren on getting bail after a long legal battle. Arresting a tribal Chief Minister was a black spot on democracy. This (NDA) government’s mentality is anti-Constitution, anti-reservation, anti-Dalit and anti-Tribal.”
Later in the evening, a meeting of the ruling alliance leaders was held at the residence of the former Chief Minister. Chief Minister Champai Soren along with Ministers and party leaders were present during the meeting.
