PMLA Court Rejects Former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren's Bail Plea

A PMLA court on Monday rejected the bail petition moved by former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren in an alleged money laundering case.

Soren was arrested on January 31 in a money laundering case connected with an alleged land scam

Source : PTI Images

A PMLA court on Monday rejected the bail petition moved by former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren in an alleged money laundering case. Earlier the court had reserved its verdict after hearing the arguments of both parties.

Former CM and JMM chief Hemant Soren had filed a petition for bail in the PMLA court on April 15.

In another setback to Soren, the Supreme Court also refused interim relief in the case to Soren today.

After hearing Soren's submission briefly on his petition against the high court order rejecting his bail petition, the top court asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to file a response till May 17.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal pleaded for an early hearing or an interim bail and said that Arvind Kejriwal's order applies to them also. The court however said that they can't issue an order without hearing the case and asked ED to file a response by May 17. 

Soren was arrested on January 31 in a money laundering case connected with an alleged land scam and has been under custody since then. It may be recalled that the former CM had immediately approached the Supreme Court after his arrest, on February 2, the top court however refused to entertain the plea and asked him to approach the High Court instead.

ED's Case Against Hemant Soren:

The Enforcement Directorate has claimed that it recovered cash worth more than Rs 36 lakhs and documents pertaining to the illegal possession and occupation of at least 12 land parcels by ex-Jharkhand Chief Minister head Hemant Soren in its searches in the alleged money laundering case.

The ED has said that it has found that Soren was actually and knowingly involved in process and activities connected with the acquisition, concealment, possession, and use of proceeds of crime and projecting the said proceeds of crime as untainted property.

Soren was found to be guilty under Section 3 of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and was liable to be arrested under Section 19 of the money laundering act, the ED has submitted in court.

ED has said that the 8.5 acre land parcels are part of criminal proceeds as Soren illegally acquired and occupied them. The ED in its submission has said that in a raid conducted on April 13, the investigators unearthed several property related records and registers that were in possession of Revenue Sub-Inspector Bhanu Pratap Prasad.

On June 1 2023, the Ranchi police registered a case against Bhanu Pratap. On June 26, the investigation agency filed a money laundering case on the basis of the Ranchi Police FIR in the same case.

The ED has alleged that investigations revealed that Bhanu Pratap is a part of a larger syndicate and was involved in large scale manipulation of revenue records. Pratap is accused of acquiring properties forcefully as well as on the basis of false deeds, falsification of government records, and by tampering with original revenue documents.

The ED has alleged that Pratap was actively involved in hatching conspiracies with other persons to acquire and conceal various properties illegally, including illegal properties acquired and possessed by Hemant Soren. The ED has also said that information about several such properties in possession of Hemant Soren was recovered from Pratap's phone. The investigation agency recovered a list of 12 such properties of around 8.5 acres of land that were under Soren's possession from Pratap's phone.