THE JHARKHAND STORY DESK
Ranchi, June 28: Former Chief Minister Hemant Soren has come out of jail. As soon as he came out, he greeted his party workers by waving his hand. Kalpana Soren, Abhishek Prasad Pintu and Minister Hafizul Hasan were also present with Hemant.
After depositing two personal bonds of Rs 50,000 each in the trial court i.e. Ranchi PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) special court, the court issued a release order. The release order was sent to Birsa Munda Central Jail. Following this, Hemant Soren has come out of jail.
Hemant Soren’s brother and state government minister Basant Soren and Kumar Saurav have become Hemant Soren’s bailors.
Earlier in the day Hemant Soren was granted bail by the Jharkhand High Court in the land scam case. The court of Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay of the High Court accepted Hemant Soren’s bail plea and granted him bail.
Earlier during the previous hearing on June 13, the court had reserved the decision after hearing both parties.
Notably, Hemant was arrested on the night of 31 January in the land scam case. The ED has completed the investigation in the case and has filed a charge sheet against five people including Hemant Soren on March 30.
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This is what the court said
The High Court’s order relied heavily on the factual evidence of documents and records as well as the electric meter’s registration and the conspicuous absence of any links to the petitioner, Hemant Soren, thereby shaping the court’s decision.
While citing the documents and records the High Court observed, “It is pertinent to note that in the numerous registers and revenue records recovered from the premises of Bhanu Pratap Prasad the name of the petitioner (Hemant Soren) or his family members does not figure.”
“The Electric Meter installed in the said premises is in the name of Hilariyas Kachhap and here also the presence of the petitioner (Hemant Soren) in any tangible or intangible form is absent”, the bench added.
The court found that the evidence did not support any claims of Hemant Soren’s involvement. Specifically, none of the registers or revenue records indicated that he had a role in acquiring or possessing the land in question. This lack of documentary evidence reinforced the court’s conclusion that Hemant Soren was not involved in the acquisition or concealment of the property.
“The overall conspectus of the case based on broad probabilities does not specifically or indirectly assign the petitioner (Hemant Soren )to be involved in the acquisition and possession as well as concealment of 8.86 acres of land at Shanti Nagar, Baragai, Ranchi connected to the “proceeds of crime”, the single bench led by Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay observed adding that “None of the registers/revenue records bare imprint of the direct involvement of the petitioner (Hemant Soren) in the acquisition and possession of the said land.”
In assessing the Enforcement Directorate’s claim, the High Court bench scrutinized the assertion that timely intervention had thwarted the illegal acquisition of land through forgery and manipulation of records. The court found this statement to be ambiguous and lacking clear substantiation.
“The claim of the Enforcement Directorate that its timely action had prevented the illegal acquisition of the land by forging and manipulating the records seems to be an ambiguous statement,” the bench stated.
