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The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Enforcement Directorate (ED) plea against Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren's bail in a land scam-related money laundering case. The panel comprising Justices BR Gawai and K.V. Viswanathan refused to interfere with the Jharkhand High Court's June 28 order granting him interim bail, calling it a "very reasonable order". Additional Advocate General, S.V. Appearing for the central agency, Raju said the Supreme Court should not have ignored the recorded reports. But Justice Kawai said the Supreme Court had "justified why they should be ignored". Soren was arrested by the ED on January 31 in a money laundering case related to the land scam. The Jharkhand Chief Minister has denied all the allegations leveled against him.

On Monday, Raju tried to argue that there was corroborating evidence against Soren, but Justice Kawai said: "It is a concrete finding that all the documents seized from Banu Pratap do not include the complainant (Soren)." The land tax inspector was arrested in 2023 in connection with this case. Prasad was allegedly part of a group of land grabbers who forged the original land records. The police arrested Prasad and confiscated several original land holdings from him. His phone allegedly contained photographs of 8.36 acres of land illegally owned by Soren.