RANCHI: Chief Minister Hemant Soren has expressed his frustration over the time he lost due to being jailed on accusations related to a land scam case. Soren remarked that if his time hadn’t been wasted on these “false allegations,” he could have addressed numerous issues affecting the people of Jharkhand.Soren was reacting to the Supreme Court’s dismissal of the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) plea, which challenged the Jharkhand High Court’s decision to grant him bail in a money laundering case tied to the alleged land scam. “I was put behind the bars by making false allegations against me and my family as if I was on the run with the properties of the state, due to which, much of my precious time was wasted. You can see how much time it took me to come out of the Assembly as several people were waiting to meet me with their problems,” said Soren. According to Soren, Judiciary is Supreme and is that pillar of the constitution where, he feels, there could never be darkness. “But at the same time, there are a few groups which are involved in wasting the time of judiciary and misusing their powers to silent the voices of those who are trying to become the voice of the poor, dalit and tribals, either by hook or by crook,” said the Chief Minister.In a notable development, the Supreme Court provided significant relief to Soren by dismissing the ED’s appeal against the High Court’s judgment, which had found that Soren was not guilty of money laundering. A division bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan described the High Court’s judgment as “very well-reasoned.” Hemant Soren was granted bail by the Jharkhand High Court on June 28 in a money laundering case linked to the land scam. ED had arrested him on January 31, 2024 in the case.Soren, after rejection of his interim bail plea and subsequent withdrawal of his petition from the Supreme Court, had moved the Jharkhand High Court seeking a regular bail for him which was allowed paving way for his release from the jail.
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