The former chief minister of Jharkhand, Hemant Soren, walked out of jail on Friday after he was granted bail in the land scam case by the Jharkhand High Court.

Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on 31st January 2024 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, on charges that he had acquired 8.86 acres of land in Ranchi. The ex-chief minister has denied the allegations and maintained that the charges were politically motivated.

The Bench on Friday said, “None of the registers/revenue records bare imprint of the direct involvement of the petitioner in the acquisition and possession of the said land.”

The claim of the Enforcement Directorate that its timely action had prevented the illegal acquisition of the land by forging and manipulating the records seems to be an ambiguous statement when considered in the backdrop of the allegation that the land was already acquired and possessed by the petitioner as per some of the statements recorded u/s 50 PMLA, 2002 and that too from the year 2010 onwards, it added.

The verdict of the Jharkhand High Court was welcomed by his family, party workers and the INDIA alliance.

Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader and Leader of Opposition (Lok Sabha) claimed that Hemant Soren was arrested out of vendetta and stated on X, “Those who move with the spirit of protecting the Constitution, truth itself protects them.”

MK Stalin, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu too said that his arrest, right before the 2024 elections, was “a blatant political witch-hunt orchestrated by the Union BJP Government to crush dissent.” A towering tribal leader was stripped of his Chief Minister post, endured five months in jail, and was prevented from campaigning, Stalin added.

NCP supremo Sharad Pawar alleged that Soren was given justice after 149 days of struggle and stated that the bail has strengthened the feeling that the victory of truth is not far away. “We will continue to demand from the NDA government, that it should not take any action out of vindictiveness and should take efforts to ensure that democracy flourishes as per the constitution,” he stated.

Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal, too welcomed the verdict and stated on X, “… an important tribal leader, and Chief Minister of Jharkhand, had to resign because of a case, but today he has received bail from the Hon’ble High Court!”

Read more: Hemant Soren arrested by ED soon after he resigns as Jharkhand CM