PMLA Court frames charges against Hemant Soren in land fraud case

A special PMLA court in Ranchi on Wednesday framed charges against Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren in an alleged 8.86-acre land fraud case, his lawyer said.

The Enforcement Directorate has registered a money laundering case in connection with the alleged illegal acquisition and transfer of the land in the Bargain area of the state capital.

“The special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court framed charges against the Jharkhand chief minister and now put the matter for trial,” Soren’s lawyer Sanjeev Sahay said. The chief minister appeared before the court through video conferencing.

Trial in the case will start, and witnesses will be examined, Sahay said.

Another senior lawyer of Jharkhand Civil Court Sanjay Kumar said, “The allegation made by the prosecution was read out by the judge, and the chief minister rejected it. He said that the allegations are baseless and he is innocent in this matter. The matter has been kept for further consideration by the court for trial.”

While charges have already been framed against the other accused persons, the framing of charges against the CM was pending, since he had approached the high court raising various legal grounds, Kumar said. The High Court on September 17 had rejected Soren’s plea seeking a stay on proceedings against him in a land purchase case before the Special PMLA Court.

The Special PMLA court has already framed charges against co-accused Antu Tirkey, architect Vinod Kumar Singh and 15 others.