Hemant Soren gets bail for uncle's funeral, criminal writ petition rejected

The Jharkhand High Court on Friday granted provisional bail to former chief minister Hemant Soren to attend the funeral of his uncle Rajaram.

Hemant has been in custody since January 31 over allegations linked to an alleged land scam that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is investigating.

In a related development, the High Court dismissed a writ petition filed by Hemant challenging the legality of his arrest by the ED. The court's decision on this matter had been pending since February 28.

Previously, the Supreme Court had issued a notice to the ED regarding Hemant 's plea for interim relief in a money laundering case. Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta had scheduled the matter for a hearing in the second week of May.

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court asked the Jharkhand High Court to deliver its decision on Hemant's plea against his arrest in the money laundering case, which had been reserved since February 28. Dissatisfied with the delay, Soren had approached the apex court and also sought interim bail.

Earlier, Hemant had requested an urgent hearing due to the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. In his plea, he argued that his arrest was unjustified and his detention arbitrary and unlawful.

Represented by advocate Pragya Baghel, Soren termed his arrest as illegal and malicious. After much speculation and drama, the former CM was arrested by the ED in January regarding the land scam case.

On April 29, Soren's wife, Kalpana, filed her nomination as the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) candidate for the Gandey assembly seat. The bypoll for this seat, located in Giridih district, is slated for May 20, coinciding with the parliamentary elections in the state.

Kalpana was accompanied by Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren and brother-in-law Basant Soren when she submitted her nomination papers.

Kalpana, who is 48 and holds MTech and MBA degrees, began her political journey at the 51st foundation day celebration of the JMM in Giridih district.

She had alleged a conspiracy against her family since the Hemant Soren-led coalition government assumed power in 2019 and vowed that Jharkhand would respond strongly to those responsible for her husband's imprisonment.