New Delhi. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday opposed in the Supreme Court the plea of former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren seeking interim bail in a money laundering case related to the alleged land scam. In its affidavit in the apex court on Soren’s plea against arrest and for interim bail, the investigating agency said the evidence on record establishes that the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leaders were involved in illegally acquiring properties and investing in them. Possession involves possession of proceeds of crime.
A vacation bench of Justice Dipankar Dutta is scheduled to hear Soren’s plea against his arrest and his interim bail plea on Tuesday. The agency said, “Several statements have been recorded under section of PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002) which establish that 8.86 acres of land was illegally acquired in Shanti Nagar near Lalu Khatal in Bariatu and it was acquired by Hemant Soren and this act was done in a secret manner.”
Opposing Soren’s interim bail for campaigning during the Lok Sabha elections, the ED said, “It is important to note that the right to campaign in elections is neither a fundamental right nor a constitutional right or a legal right.” The investigating agency said Soren was trying to misuse the state government machinery to influence the investigation and “legalize the proceeds of crime through his henchmen”. After Soren resigned from the post of Chief Minister of Jharkhand, he was arrested on January 31 in a money laundering case related to an alleged land scam.