The Jharkhand High Court on Friday granted bail to former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren in the  land scam case.

The single-judge bench of Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay held that prima facie Soren was not guilty of the offence and there was no likelihood of the petitioner committing an offence when on bail.

Earlier on June 13, the High Court had reserved its order on the bail plea of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha President. The Enforcement Directorate had arrested Soren in January in connection with the land scam case.

The agency alleged that significant amounts of proceeds of crime were 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 of rupees, during the Chief Ministership of Hemant Soren. The 48-year-old politician was lodged in Birsa Munda jail.

Appearing for Soren, Senior Advocate Meenakshi Arora argued that he was being unfairly targeted in a politically-motivated and fabricated case. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, also representing Soren, claimed that he was falsely implicated by the ED.
 
The Counsel appearing for the Enforcement Directorate (ED) opposed granting of bail to Soren on the grounds that he might re-offend, citing cases involving ED officers at the SC/ST police station.

The Central agency alleged that Soren abused his position as chief minister to unlawfully acquire 8.86 acres in Bargain Anchal in Ranchi.

The counsel asserted that witnesses examined by ED confirmed the former CM's involvement in the illegal land deal.

As per ED, Soren's media consultant Abhishek Prasad admitted that the JMM chief had instructed him to manipulate official records to change the ownership details of the plot.

Original landowner Raj Kumar Pahan attempted to file a complaint when his land was being seized, but no action was taken, noted the agency.