[ad_1]
The Jharkhand High Court heard the PIL filed by the Chief Minister (being the Minister of Mines Department) Hemant Soren in the matter of allotment of mining lease and other leases to relatives in Angada, Ranchi. A division bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kumar Mishra and Justice Anand Sen heard the arguments of the applicant and the state government. After considering the plea of the applicant, the State Government, Enforcement Directorate (ED) and other respondents were directed to file reply. Along with this, the bench fixed the date of May 1 for the next hearing of the case.
Earlier, on behalf of the applicant, advocate Vinod Singh and advocate Vishal told that Chief Minister Hemant Soren, while being the Minister of Mines Department, had allotted mining lease on 88 decimals of land in Angada. At the same time, 11 acres of land was allotted in the name of Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana Soren and his sister Sarla Murmu’s company Sohrai Livestock Pvt Ltd in Chanho’s Barhe industrial area. CM’s press advisor Abhishek Prasad Pintu and CM’s MLA representative Pankaj Mishra have also been allotted mining lease. The advocate alleged that all the work was done by misusing the position. He urged for a high-level inquiry into the matter.
At the same time, on behalf of the state government, Advocate General Rajiv Ranjan raised questions on the maintainability of the PIL and said that this petition is not worth hearing. Shivshankar Sharma’s public interest litigation in the same case has been rejected by the Supreme Court in the past. The Supreme Court has set aside the order passed by the Jharkhand High Court in Shivshankar Sharma’s PIL against CM Hemant Soren and others. It is not proper from anywhere to raise the same thing again in the said petition. He urged to dismiss the petition. It is notable that the applicant RTI activist and High Court advocate Sunil Kumar Mahato has filed a PIL.
[ad_2]