A special PMLA court here 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 Ranchi.“The special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court framed charges against the Jharkhand CM and put the matter for trial,” Soren’s lawyer Sanjeev Sahay said.The CM appeared before the court through video conferencing. Trial in the case will start, and witnesses will be examined, Sahay said.Another senior lawyer of the Jharkhand Civil Court, Sanjay Kumar, said, “The allegation made by the prosecution was read out by the judge, and the CM rejected it. He said the allegations are baseless and he is innocent in this matter. The matter has been kept for further consideration by the court for trial.”The Special PMLA court has already framed charges against co-accused Antu Tirkey, architect Vinod Kumar Singh and 15 others, while the framing of charges against the CM was pending, since he had approached the High Court on various legal grounds, Kumar said. The HC on September 17 rejected Soren’s plea seeking a stay on proceedings against him in the land purchase case before the Special PMLA court.