Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who is in controversy due to mining lease, has not yet received a statement on the matter. At the same time, there has been no fresh hearing in this case from the court’s side. Here, the opposition has also intensified its action against the government and there is a demand to disqualify Soren as CM. It is alleged that he has violated the Representation of the People Act 1951. Along with this, the Election Commission has also entered in this entire controversy. Let’s understand this whole matter in detail…
where did the story begin
In February, former Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das held a press conference. During this, he had put forward some documents, accusing Sorene of ‘misuse of office’ to get approval for the lease of a stone quarry in Ranchi district in his favor. The special thing is that the ECI had also asked Soren, who holds the state’s environment and mining department, for his opinion.
Regarding the documents of the Mining Department, Das alleged that it is a violation of the sections of the Representation of Peoples Act. At the same time, he also said that this can lead to charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act. During another press conference on April 25, Das had alleged that his wife had got 11 acres of industrial land while Soren was in office.
what are the documents
Documents filed on the portal of the Centre’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change show that Soren had applied for grant of mining lease on 0.88 acres in Angara block of Ranchi district. The production in the mine was shown to be 6 thousand 171 tonnes per annum and the estimated cost of the project was stated to be Rs 26 lakh. It was told that the proposed plan is for 5 years and the estimated life of the mine was 5 years.
delve deeper into the matter
Documents related to the proceedings of the Angara Gram Panchayat show that Soren’s application had reached the District Mining Officer (DMO) of Ranchi on 28 May 2021, seeking a lease. At the same time, on June 1, the DMO asked the circle officer of Angara to investigate.
Angara Gram Panchayat was convened on 7 June to agree on mining. The special thing is that on the same day, the Angara Block Development Officer informed the DMO in writing that the Gram Sabha has given consent for the mining lease. The agreement was signed between Soren and nine people of the village on 14 March. After this, on June 16, 2021, the DMO of Ranchi informed that the Deputy Commissioner of Ranchi has issued a letter of intent in the order dated June 15, 2021. In which ‘in principal approval’ has been given for mining lease with certain conditions.
Documents show that on September 9, the CM had sought environment clearance for the mine and the state department had cleared them on September 22.
what the government has to say
During the hearing in the matter held on April 8, Advocate General Rajeev Ranjan had said that the state had “committed a mistake” in granting permission for mining. He had said that there was a “violation of the code of conduct”. He had told that even though Soren had been involved in business while he was a minister, there was no statutory or constitutional violation.
He had said that Soren had recused himself from it on 11.02.22 by “surrendering the lease”. However, the court considered the matter to be “serious” and issued notices to Soren and the state to file an affidavit.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya has claimed that the lease given to Soren was ‘renewal’ and the land taken on lease was shown in several ECI affidavits.