Relief for Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren from Supreme Court in mining lease case
The top court has sets aside HC order which upheld maintainability of plea for probe against him in mining lease case
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren got a relief on Monday from the Supreme Court as the top court set aside a high court order. The order by the Jharkhand high court had upheld the maintainability of a public interest litigation (PIL) for a probe against the chief minister in a mining lease case. Earlier this year, Hemant Soren had said that a petition - seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) into a stone mining lease case - was an attempt to “destabilise the democratically-elected state government”.
In an affidavit filed in the HC, Soren had also alleged that the petitioner held a “personal grudge” against him and that his (the petitioner’s) had allegedly tried to implicate Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) founder Shibu Soren in a murder case in 2006
The Election Commission had also started a probe into the matter following claims that a mining lease on government land was granted to Soren last year, which amounts to holding an “office of profit”.
Meanwhile, the state has been witnessing a lot of political turbulence. Last week, the ruling coalition - comprising JMM, Congress and RJD - had hit the streets, alleging misuse of central agencies by the BJP.
Soren had also skipped a summon by the Enforcement Directorate earlier this month, as he said: “Come and arrest me if I have committed corruption. Why send the summons for questioning? Come and arrest me straight away, then people will give you an adequate reply."
Jharkhand governor Ramesh Bais is also involved in the matter and has sought a second opinion from the Election Commission in the most recent update.
