EC notice to Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren on office of profit charge

EC notice to Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren on office of profit charge
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New Delhi: The Election Commission on Monday issued notice to Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren on a reference that he held an “office of profit” by granting a mining lease to himself last year. The poll panel issued the notice after verifying the documents that were sent by the chief secretary of the state last week. He has been given time till May 10 to respond to the notice, officials familiar with the matter told HT.

“We have gone through the documents and have found it all to be genuine,” said a senior official. “There is a prima facie case that is made out under section 9a of the Representation of People Act,” he said. The official added that if the CM so wishes, he will be given a personal hearing by the election body.

The 9a clause of the law pertains to disqualification for government contracts and says, “A person shall be disqualified if, and for so long as, there subsists a contract entered into by him in the course of his trade or business with the appropriate Government for the supply of goods to, or for the execution of any works undertaken by, that Government.”’

The chief minister is in Hyderabad for his mother’s health check-up and his office said that they didn’t have a comment on the development. However, it comes as a major setback for Soren’s Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) government which was formed in coalition with the Congress in December 2019. The showcause notice means the beginning of a judicial process which could see the disqualification of the CM and the fall of his government. As HT reported last week, Soren is consulting with senior legal experts like former SC judge Ashok Ganguly, National Academy of Legal Studies and Research vice chancellor Faizan Mustafa and former ECI official SK Mendiratta in the case.

The matter pertains to alleged grant of an in-principle approval for stone quarrying lease in Soren’s name on a government land on the outskirts of state capital Ranchi, which was cleared by the mines and environment departments, both headed by the chief minister himself.

The matter was raised by former chief minister Raghubar Das on February 10 this year. A BJP delegation led by Das and the current legislature party leader Babulal Marandi had also met the governor on February 11, seeking disqualification and removal of Soren as chief minister. The governor forwarded the complaint to the ECI which first issued a notice to the chief secretary before sending it to the CM himself.

In court, Soren has maintained there was no question of profiting since the letter for operating the mine was never issued. Incidentally, there was major speculation that Soren will meet with BJP leaders like Amit Shah during his visit to the Capital this weekend. However, his office said that he didn’t have any such appointments. His alliance partners, the Congress party, have rallied in support of the CM.

Besides the charge of granting a lease to himself, the chief minister has also been accused of allotting a 11-acre plot to his wife Kalpana Soren’s firm in an industrial park in Ranchi. The industry department is also headed by Soren.

The developments have given the opposition ammunition to target the Sorens, the most powerful political family in the tribal state. The Sorens have managed to weather controversies before in the state where scheduled tribes account for over a fourth of the 33 million population (2011).

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