NEW DELHI: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren is learnt to have sought more time from the Election Commission to appear before it in a mining lease allotment matter, citing the unavailability of his counsel.
He was to appear before the poll panel either in person or through his counsel on Tuesday.
Soren was earlier asked to appear before the EC on May 31 but he had sought more time and his appearance was rescheduled for June 14.
Sources aware of the development said the Jharkhand chief minister has now again sought more time to appear before the EC citing the unavailability of his counsel due to medical reasons.
In May, the poll panel had issued a notice to Hemant Soren keeping in mind Section 9A of the Representation of the People Act which deals with the disqualification of a lawmaker for government contracts.
"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 section states.
The panel, prima facie, has found that he violated provisions of Section 9A.
After going through his response, the EC had asked Hemant Soren to appear before it.
While hearing such cases, the EC functions like a quasi-judicial body.
Recently, Hemant Soren's brother Basant Soren appeared before EC through his counsel after he was served notice under section 9A.
His counsel had claimed that the petition filed against the JMM MLA seeking his disqualification over co-owning a mining firm was not maintainable and had questioned the Election Commission's jurisdiction in hearing the matter.