In a major setback for the former Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Hemant Soren, the Jharkhand High Court on Friday, May 3, turned down his petition challenging his arrest in connection with an alleged land scam case. The court, however, granted an interim bail for one day for Soren to attend the funeral rituals of his uncle Rajaram Soren, who passed away last month.
According to the reports, a bench of acting Chief Justice (ACJ) Shree Chandrasekhar and Justice Navneet Kumar dismissed Soren’s petition. However, the court allowed Soren an interim bail of one day while directing that the former CM remain in judicial custody and not be allowed to speak to the media.
Earlier, the High Court had reserved its judgement after listening to the parties involved in the case on February 28. Citing the delay in pronouncing the verdict, the former CM of Jharkhand had recently moved to the Supreme Court, where the court, while posting the matter in the week commencing May 6, stated that it would be open to the High Court to pronounce the judgement in the matter in the meantime.
Earlier, the apex court refused to entertain his previous petition challenging the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) arrest and directed him to approach the high court into the matter.
Soren was arrested by the ED in connection with the money laundering case right after the agency grilled him for hours on January 31 this year. Before his arrest, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader had tendered his resignation from the CM’s post, following which party loyalist Champai Soren was sworn in as his successor.
PMLA court extended Soren’s custody for 14 days
It is noteworthy that a special court on Thursday extended Soren’s judicial custody for 14 days. The former CM had appeared in the hearing via video conferencing on May 2 following which the court extended his custody.
Soren will remain in the custody in the Birsa Munda Central Jail in Hotwar, the State’s capital. The court had also extended the custody of two other accused in the alleged land scam case. Revenue Inspector Bhanu Pratap and Saddam Hussain, accused of fabricating documents, had their custody extended to 14 days during the hearing via video conferencing.
Significantly a special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court had also turned down Soren’s plea for interim bail to attend the funeral of his late uncle on April 27.
It must be noted that the former CM of Jharkhand is being investigated by the ED for money laundering in connection with an illegal mining case as well as an alleged land scam case . The agency has alleged Soren’s direct involvement in possession and acquisition of proceed of crime generated by illegal means.
