NEW DELHI: The Jharkhand high court on Friday granted bail to former chief minister Hemant Soren in the alleged land scam case.
The court had reserved its order on June 13 on JMM chief's bail plea.
"Bail has been granted to Soren. The court has held that prima facie he is not guilty of the offence and there is no likelihood of the petitioner committing an offence when on bail," Soren's advocate Arunabh Chowdhury said.
Earlier during the hearing, senior advocate Kapil Sibal argued for the grant of bail Soren before the high court, contending that the JMM leader has been falsely implicated in a criminal case by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Appearing before a vacation bench of justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma, Sibal argued that Soren has been wrongfully accused of usurping an 8.86-acre plot in Bargain, Ranchi, and that this act does not constitute an offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, for which Soren has been detained.
Following a prolonged hide-and-seek scenario, Soren was apprehended by the Enforcement Directorate in January in connection with the land scam case.
The investigation centers on significant amounts of proceeds of crime generated through the forgery of official records, involving 'fake sellers' and purchasers through falsified or counterfeit documents to acquire vast parcels of land valued at crores.
The 48-year-old politician is currently lodged in Birsa Munda jail.