Amid political turmoil in Jharkhand, what are the legal battles for CM Hemant Soren?

Amid the rising fears of the fall of the Jharkhand government led by Chief Minister Hemant Soren, it is being speculated that the MLAs of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and its allies are planning to switch sides. Along with this, Soren is also concerned over his possible disqualification as an MLA in the office-of-profit case. 

Notably, three public interest litigations (PILs) have been filed in connection with Chief Minister Hemant Soren in the state High Court over alleged irregularities in the grant of a mining lease and in MNREGA contracts, and transactions of some shell companies reportedly run by his family. However, the Supreme Court has put a stay on all proceedings on the petitions and has asked the High Court to not proceed with the PILs as the case is pending before it.

The PILs had sought an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) against Soren and his family members.

Soren accused of misusing his position 

The JMM leader was served a notice by the Election Commission on May 2 for allegedly misusing his tenure as the Chief Minister and Minister of Industries in allotting a black stone mining lease for 0.88 acres of land in Ranchi's Angara block in September last year. This all started after a BJP delegation met Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais in February this year seeking his removal in the office-of-profit case under Section 9A of the Representation of the People Act. 

Following this, the Election Commission of India (ECI) recently recommended the disqualification of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren as an MLA to Jharkhand Governor for violating electoral norms by extending a mining lease to himself.  

Political crisis in Jharkhand

 Republic learnt from sources that 32 of the 51 legislators of the ruling alliance landed in Raipur on Tuesday. While the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has 30 MLAs, its allies, the Congress has 18, while the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have one each, bringing the total number of legislators to 51. However, only 32 allegedly reached Raipur.