RANCHI: In yet another blow to Chief Minister Hemant Soren, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday issued a notice asking him to explain why action shouldn't be taken against him for having a mining lease issued in his favor, which prima facie violates Section 9A of the Representation of People’s (RP) Act 1951. According to sources in the State Government, Soren has been asked to reply by May 10.
Sources also revealed that a special messenger had come from ECI in the evening with three copies of the notice, one for CM Soren, and another for former CM Raghubar Das while the third one is for some unknown person. The notice is likely to be delivered to the respective parties through the office of Chief Electoral Officer in Ranchi.
“A special messenger arrived from New Delhi in the evening to hand over the notices to the office of Chief Electoral Officer in Ranchi. It is expected to get all the notices delivered to concerned parties by Tuesday,” said the source in the State Government.
Soren has been asked why action should not be taken against him for having a mining lease issued in his favour, which prima facie violates Section 9A of the RP Act, he added.
Notably, a BJP delegation led by former Chief Minister Raghubar Das on February 10, met Governor Ramesh Bais and handed over a memorandum seeking disqualification and removal of CM Soren alleging him of violating the constitutional provision under section 9A of The Representation of the People Act, 1951. Taking cognizance into the matter, the Governor forwarded those documents to ECI and sought its opinion.
Since the documents submitted to the Governor were not verified; the ECI forwarded them to Jharkhand Government seeking information and authentication of the documents related to granting of the lease before sending its opinion to the Governor.
The State Government, after authenticating the documents, sent them back to the EC following which the notice was issued to Soren.
Meanwhile, a notice has also been issued to CM Soren by the Jharkhand High Court in a PIL filed against him for holding a mining lease when he himself holds the mining portfolio. The Jharkhand HC, issuing notice to the Chief Minister, has asked how and under what circumstances he misused his official position.
The PIL has been filed by Shiv Shankar Sharma, seeking a probe into how Soren, despite having in-charge of the mining department, misused his official position to obtain a mining lease.
According to the petitioner, Soren obtained a lease of 0.88 acre area at Angara block in Ranchi and a ‘Letter of Intent’ was issued by Ranchi District Mining Office on June 16, 2021. The petition further added that on September 9, Soren applied for environmental clearance of the said mine and by September 18, the clearance was given by the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority.