Jharkhand High Court grants bail to former CM Hemant Soren in money laundering case

New Delhi, June 28: The Jharkhand High Court on Friday granted bail to former Chief Minister Hemant Soren in the money laundering case filed against him in connection with an alleged land scam [Hemant Soren v. Directorate of Enforcement]. Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay approved Soren's bail application today, Bar and Bench reported.

Previously, Justice Mukhopadhyay had denied Soren's request for interim bail to attend his uncle's funeral rites, determining that no exceptional circumstance warranted such a request. However, the judge has now granted his regular bail application.

Soren had resigned as Chief Minister of Jharkhand on January 31 following his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case related to the "illegal change of ownership of land by the mafia" in the State.

Soren has consistently denied the money laundering allegations. In a video released shortly before his arrest, he claimed that he was being detained based on "fake papers" as part of a conspiracy. A plea challenging his arrest by the ED was dismissed by a Division Bench of the High Court on May 3, after the Supreme Court directed him to approach the Jharkhand High Court first instead of directly entertaining his plea.