Soren urges EC for copy of opinion amid uncertainty

Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren has approached the Election Commission of India (ECI), seeking a copy of the opinion the poll watchdog sent to governor Ramesh Bais last month on the office of profit row surrounding his mining lease, people familiar with the development said on Friday — a move that is seen as the chief minister’s attempt to resolve the uncertainty over his position, given that 21 days have passed and the governor is yet to act.

Soren decided to explore legal actions due to a “delay” on part of the Raj Bhawan in making its decision public on the matter, they added.

In a letter to ECI secretary on Thursday, Soren’s counsel Vaibhav Tomar argued that the proceedings in the election body were judicial and that therefore, a copy of the opinion should be shared with his client. The EC has already sent its opinion on the matter to the governor after several rounds of hearings and reserving its order, Tomar said.

“…the proceedings before the honourable commission while tendering the opinion under Article 192 (2) of the Constitution of India and the enquiry conducted therein, and the judicial proceedings and the same is amply clear from section 146 of Representation of People Act, 1951, which was inserted by Act 17 of 1965, w.e.f 22/09/1965. Even the decided cases support the said contention,” he wrote in the letter, a copy of which HT has seen.

“We are therefore addressing this communication requesting for a copy of the opinion rendered by the Election Commission of India to the honourable governor of Jharkhand (recording the outcome of the enquiry) conducted in terms of Article 192 (2) read with section 146 of Representation of People Act, 1951. Kindly further a copy of the opinion at the earliest to enable our client to take necessary action in accordance with law,” he added in the letter.

The letter was sent on a day the chief minister met the governor at Raj Bhawan and made a similar demand through a memorandum.

A political crisis gripped Jharkhand on August 25 after the ECI sent a report to the governor, ostensibly recommending Soren’s disqualification as a member of the assembly for allegedly holding a mining licence.

A government official earlier said the poll body made its recommendation in a sealed envelope to the governor, who sought its advice after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanded action against the chief minister for allegedly holding an “office of profit” — in this case, a mining licence.

On September 1, a delegation of the state’s ruling alliance also met and urged the governor to “clear the air” on the ECI report pertaining to Soren’s assembly membership.

It is not clear why the Governor is yet to act on the poll body’s advice.

Soren left for New Delhi on Thursday night immediately after he met the governor.

“The chief minister is meeting senior lawyers and seeking legal opinion for further action. He is prepared to take further legal action in the matter,” an official in the chief minister’s office (CMO) said on condition of anonymity.

In his memorandum to the governor, Soren alleged that the BJP was using the delay on part of Raj Bhawan in making public the EC opinion to create confusion among the masses about the future of his assembly membership and his government.

In the 81-member assembly, 49 seats belong to the ruling alliance. Of them, 30 are from Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), 18 from Congress and one from Rashtriya Janata Dal. The BJP and its ally, All Jharkhand Students Union, have 28 MLAs and there are two independent legislators. A Nationalist Congress Party MLA and a Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist) member are supporting the government.

Amidst the prevailing stalemate over continuation of Hemant Soren as an MLA, the ruling coalition on August 30 moved the bulk of its lawmakers to a resort in Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh to avert any political crisis.

However, on September 5, the Jharkhand assembly passed the confidence motion tabled by the ruling coalition, even as the BJP staged a walkout just ahead of the voting.

Meanwhile, the ECI on September 9 also sent its opinion to the governor on a disqualification complaint against Basant Soren, the legislator brother of the chief minister.

The complaint by the BJP sought Basant’s disqualification from Dumka seat for allegedly being a partner in two firms having mining leases in the state.

On May 5, the poll body issued a notice to Basant on the matter. He submitted his response on May 12.

The governor is yet to take a decision on this case as well.