EC Concludes Hearing in Hemant Soren Mine Lease Case; May Send Opinion to Jharkhand Guv Soon

The hearing in the Hemant Soren mine leasing case, in which the BJP has accused him of extending himself a mining lease and sought his disqualification as an MLA, has concluded, sources said on Monday. The Election Commission is likely to send its opinion to the Jharkhand governor in the next fortnight, they said.

The Jharkhand chief minister’s team has asserted before the poll panel that the provisions in the election law, which he has been accused of violating, do not apply in the case.

On August 12, the legal team of Soren concluded its arguments before the Election Commission following which the BJP — the petitioner in the case — gave a rejoinder. On August 18, the two sides submitted their written submissions to the poll panel. Now, the Election Commission will get down to writing its opinion which will be sent in a fortnight to the Jharkhand governor who earlier referred the matter to the poll panel, the sources said.

Under Article 192 of the Constitution, if any question arises as to whether a member of a House of the Legislature of a state has become subject to any of the disqualifications, the question shall be referred to the governor whose decision shall be final. “Before giving any decision on any such question, the Governor shall obtain the opinion of the Election Commission and shall act according to such opinion,” it reads.

Soren’s counsel said during the arguments that the cases are not covered under Section 9 A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which deals with disqualification for government contracts’. “They argued for nearly two hours. Following which we gave our rejoinder and showed it is a matter of conflict of interest and there are a series of judgments of the Supreme Court which cover this (case),” BJP’s counsel Kumar Harsh told reporters after the Election Commission hearing on August 12.

While dealing with such cases, the poll panel functions as a quasi-judicial body. The BJP as the petitioner in the case had asserted that Soren violated the provision of the election law by extending himself a favour with a government contract while in office.

Following a reference from the Jharkhand governor, the poll panel in May issued a notice to the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader under Section 9A of the Representation of the People Act as it is claimed that owning the lease violates this provision of the law.

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