Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court judgment which held that the PILs filed before the high court praying for investigations against him in an alleged illegal mining case were not maintainable.
Soren, who was accused of granting himself a mining lease as the state's mining minister, told PTI that the judgment setting aside the June 3 order of the high court accepting maintainability of the public interest litigations (PILs) has strengthened his resolve to work for the people tirelessly.
"I have strong belief and confidence in the rule of the law and the judicial institutions of the country," Soren said. The ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) claimed that the apex court order has made it clear that Soren and his government were being targetted by the BJP as part of a conspiracy.
JMM spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya alleged that a false narrative was being created by the BJP-led central government to destabilise a democratically elected government. “They should understand that the country is the land of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar and not of a dictator,” Bhattacharya 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.
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.
(With PTI inputs)
