Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, who has been accused of allotting a mine lease to himself, has submitted before the high court that the public interest litigation (PIL) in the matter has been filed by his political rivals to “destabilise the democratically elected state government” headed by him.
The PIL, filed by one Shiv Shankar Sharma, demanding an inquiry by central probe agencies like CBI and ED into mining lease granted to the chief minister by mines department headed by Soren himself, was listed for hearing on Friday. However, the matter was deferred, petitioner’s counsel Rajiv Kumar said.
During the last hearing related to the case on April 8, the HC had issued notice to the chief minister directing him to file his reply even as state’s advocate general Rajiv Ranjan had informed the court that the CM has already surrendered the lease.
In his affidavit filed on Thursday through his lawyer Kundan Kumar Mishra, Soren has questioned the petitioner’s credentials, saying he held a “personal grudge” against him. “His father Dr Gautam Sharma had, in 2006, deposed against my father Shibu Soren before a Delhi court to falsely implicate him in a murder case, in which my father was eventually acquitted by the high court and the Supreme Court,” the affidavit submitted by Soren says.
The chief minister also informed the court about a parallel complaint filed by opposition BJP before the Election Commission of India (ECi) through the Governor, which had sought his disqualification from the assembly while arguing that the grant of mining lease amounted to him holding an office of profit. He informed the court about the notice sent to him by the ECI seeking his reply by May 10 on the issue.
{{/usCountry}}The chief minister also informed the court about a parallel complaint filed by opposition BJP before the Election Commission of India (ECi) through the Governor, which had sought his disqualification from the assembly while arguing that the grant of mining lease amounted to him holding an office of profit. He informed the court about the notice sent to him by the ECI seeking his reply by May 10 on the issue.
{{/usCountry}}“... a mere comparison of the allegations contained in the petition submitted by the BJP and the allegations made in the present writ petition show that both are similar and the handiwork of the same person. It’s requested to dismiss the petition with exemplary costs to the petitioner as he is guilty of abuse of the process of law and with extraneous considerations,” Soren’s submission says.
The chief minister has also cited previous Supreme Court judgment in State of Uttarakhand Vs Balwant Singh Chaufal a 2010 case wherein the apex court had ruled that courts should prima facie verify the credentials of a petitioner for entertaining a PIL.
Giving details of his mining lease, Soren has claimed that lease on the 0.88 acres of land was originally granted to him for a period of 10 years on May 17, 2008, and he had applied for its renewal in 2018, but the application lapsed. He again applied for the same “sometime in 2021” when Ranchi deputy commissioner invited fresh applications.
The lease was granted to him subsequently as per the laid down procedures. However, he had not obtained the consent to operate and on February 4, 2022, he applied to surrender the lease before commencing any extraction and the same was subsequently accepted by the department upon payment of the prescribed fees.
Soren has underlined that he has not received any benefit, much less, any pecuniary benefit, whatsoever, from the said lease, a source said.