Mining lease case: Relief for Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren; SC sets aside HC order

New Delhi, Nov 07: In a huge relief for Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, the Supreme Court on Monday allowed his plea challenging a Jharkhand High Court order against him in the illegal mining case.

It also set aside the Jharkhand High Court's June 3 order. "Satyamev Jayate," Soren, who has been accused of granting himself a mining lease as the state's mining minister, said on Twitter after the Supreme Court's ruling.

"We have allowed these two appeals and have set aside the June 3, 2022 order passed by the Jharkhand High Court, holding that these PILs were not maintainable," the bench said.

A bench of Justices U U Lalit, S R Bhat and Sudhanshu Dhulia had reserved its judgement on August 17 on separate pleas of the Jharkhand government and Soren against the high court's order that accepted the maintainability of the PILs.

The apex court had earlier restrained the high court from proceedings with the PILs seeking a probe against Soren in the mining lease issue. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state government, had earlier submitted that the high court had decided on maintainability even before all the documents were placed before it.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Soren, had questioned the credentials of the PIL petitioner.

Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the Enforcement Directorate, had said criminal petitions should not be thrown out on technical grounds.

BJP national vice president and former Jharkhand chief minister Raghubar Das in February this year claimed Soren abused his position and granted himself the favour of a mining lease, an issue involving both the conflict of interest and corruption. He also alleged violations of provisions of the Representation of People Act.

Taking cognisance of the controversy, the Election Commission sent a notice to Soren in May seeking his version on the mining lease issued in his favour when he held the Mining and Environment portfolios.

Owning a lease violates Section 9A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which deals with disqualification for government contracts, etc, EC sources had said.

The issue is still pending with the poll panel. The pleas before the Jharkhand High Court had sought a probe into alleged irregularities in the grant of mining lease as also the transactions of some shell companies allegedly linked to the chief minister's family members and associates.

On June 3, the high court said it was of the considered opinion that writ petitions cannot be thrown away on the ground of maintainability and it will proceed to hear the matters on merit.

In its order, a division bench of the high court said, "This court, after having answered the issue, as framed by this court, and on the basis of discussions made hereinabove, is summing up its view and is of the considered opinion that the writ petitions cannot be thrown away on the ground of maintainability."

On May 24, the apex court had asked the high court to first hear the preliminary objections to the maintainability of the PILs seeking a probe.

It had passed the order on a petition filed by the state against two high court orders in the matter. It noted that three PILs have been filed before the high court seeking an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into the allegations of corruption, misuse of office, and money laundering against Soren. Both Soren and his Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) have denied the allegations.

Earlier, Soren had said that he has through his counsel sought a copy from the Election Commission (EC) of Governor Ramesh Bais's request for a "second opinion" in an office-of-profit case.

Soren's comment comes in the wake of the governor saying on October 27 that he has sought a "second opinion" in the case and claimed that an "atom bomb could explode any time in Jharkhand", apparently indicating to his pending decision in the matter.

Soren has been accused of running illegal mining operations in the state through his close aides. Soren has maintained that he did nothing wrong. Soren is also facing disqualification as MLA on the BJP's complaint for granting himself a mining lease while holding office in 2021.

Soren who had been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday in a money laundering case linked to alleged illegal mining in the state, asked the agency to come and arrest him if he has committed a crime.

The agency wanted to question and record the statement of the chief minister under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.

(with PTI inputs)