SC Refuses To Interfere With HC's Order In Hemant Soren Money Laundering Case

 In a major relief to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, the Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) plea seeking to cancel the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader's bail and said that the Jharkhand High Court order was well reasoned.

A bench of justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan said, "We are not inclined to interfere with the impugned order." The top court said that since observations made by the judge are with regard to bail, the same would not influence the trial judge either at the stage of trial or any other proceedings.

Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for ED stressed on cancelling the bail. The top court remarked, "We don't want to observe anything more and if we observe, you might be in difficulty." The top court said that a very well-reasoned judgment has been rendered by the High Court judge. The top court also mentioned the CJI speech at Bangalore recently that Trial Courts play safe when there is a question of granting bail. 

The ED has moved the top court challenging the Jharkhand High Court order granting bail to Hemant Soren in the money laundering matter related to the land scam case. Earlier the Jharkhand High Court granted bail to former Jharkhand Chief Minister and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Chief, Hemant Soren, in the alleged land scam case. Soren was arrested by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in January on charges related to an alleged land scam and money laundering. The investigation concerns the purported generation of substantial proceeds through the forgery of official records, involving fake sellers and buyers to acquire large parcels of land worth crores.

Soren had resigned as Chief Minister following his arrest in the money laundering case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Following the bail, Soren again became the Chief Minister of the state. Days after he was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Jharkhand for the third time, Hemant Soren won the floor test during a special session of the state assembly on Monday. Hemant Soren won the vote of trust with the votes of 45 MLAs in his favour. He was sworn in as the 13th Chief Minister of Jharkhand in Raj Bhavan, Ranchi on July 4.

Hemant Soren was released from the Birsa Munda Jail on June 28 after nearly five months following bail from Jharkhand High Court in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam. Champai Soren who had taken over as the CM following the arrest, resigned from the post just five months after taking the oath, setting the ball rolling for Hemant Soren to again take over the role on Wednesday. Champai Soren had taken oath as the 12th Chief Minister of Jharkhand in the Raj Bhavan on February 2 this year. Earlier in a video message Hemant Soren had accused the BJP of leveling false allegations against him.

"In the 2019 Jharkhand Assembly Elections, the people of Jharkhand gave our party mandate but the conspirators were unable to digest how an Adivasi youngster can sit in such a high position. At last, on January 31, they (the BJP) made false allegations against me and removed me from the post of Chief Minister. Because of the people's blessings, I'm out here sitting in front of you. We will always be the voice of the people. Today, the public opinion of the people of Jharkhand will rise again. By taking charge, the work will be carried out again," he said.

Hemant Soren's return as CM will bolster the JMM, which won three seats in the tribal-dominated state of Jharkhand in the Lok Sabha elections. In 2019, JMM fought the assembly elections in alliance with the Congress and Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) and got a comfortable majority with forty-seven seats in the 81-member house.