The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea by the Enforcement Directorate challenging a Jharkhand High Court order that granted bail to Chief Minister Hemant Soren in a money laundering case related to an alleged land scam.
The bench, consisting of Justices B.R. Gavai and K.V. Viswanathan, upheld the high court’s June 28 decision, describing it as "very well reasoned."
"We are not inclined to interfere with the impugned order," the bench said.
The executive president of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), had resigned as chief minister just before his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on January 31 in a land scam case.
After being released on bail, Soren resumed his role as the chief minister of Jharkhand on July 4.
The ED opposed Soren's bail in the high court, accusing him of using his position to illegally acquire 8.86 acres of land in the Bargain area of Ranchi, the state capital.
Soren's lawyer argued that he was falsely accused in the case by the central agency.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) claimed that during the investigation, Soren’s media consultant, Abhishek Prasad, admitted that Soren had directed him to alter official records to change the ownership details of the land.
The probe agency had also claimed that the original owner of the land, Raj Kumar Pahan, had tried to lodge a complaint about his land being usurped but it was never acted upon.
Soren was summoned multiple times by the ED before he was questioned at his residence and subsequently arrested on January 31.
