NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Monday informed Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren that no fresh communication had been received by the poll panel from state governor Ramesh Bais since it rendered its opinion on the plea seeking his disqualification for allegedly getting a mining lease issued in his name.
Jharkhand governor had on October 27 claimed in Raipur that he had sought a second opinion from EC regarding the disqualification case against Soren — he even warned of an impending “nuclear bomb explosion” in Jharkhand. Bais' claim had prompted Soren to approach EC through his counsel Vaibhav Tomar on October 31, seeking a copy of the governor’s letter allegedly seeking this “second opinion”.
On Monday, EC wrote back to Tomar, stating that “I am directed to state that there is no communication from the office of the Hon’ble Governor subsequent to the rendering of the opinion by the Commission in the above-mentioned case...In this regard, Article 192 of the Constitution also refers”.
Soren’s office was on Monday quoted by PTI as saying: “The chief minister had been maintaining that a larger political conspiracy was at play to malign the image of the state and create political unrest using constitutional authorities and other pressures. ECI’s letter today justifies his apprehensions”.
EC had, acting on a reference received from the Jharkhand governor under Article 192 of the Constitution of India, given its opinion in the matter in September 2022. Though EC opinion has not been made public, the commission is believed to have recommended his disqualification under Section 9A of the Representation of the People’s Act, 1951.
Section 9A states that “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 issue of Soren, in his role as the minister for mines, leasing land for mining a company he himself owned came to light when BJP leader and former Jharkhand chief minister Raghubar Das had earlier released at a press conference documents to show that Soren obtained a lease of 0.88 acre in Angara block of Ranchi and a Letter of Intent was issued by Ranchi’s District Mining Office on June 16, 2021. The documents also stated that Soren later applied for environmental clearance for the mine, and obtained it from the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority. Soren holds the environment and forests department.
The issue acquired a serious dimension when during a hearing in Jharkhand HC on April 8, Advocate General conceded that the state had committed “a mistake”. He had however added that the lease has since been surrendered. EC sources said that this may not save him from action under Section 9A of the RP Act.
