On Tuesday afternoon, the Election Commission dispatched a letter to Hemant Soren’s office asking him to appear on June 28.
Ranchi: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren was on Tuesday given a 14-day extension by the Election Commission of India (ECI) for appearing before it in the office of profit case against him.
Hemant Soren, who was due to appear in person or through his counsel before the Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday evening, pleaded more time citing that his advocate was recuperating from a bout of Covid-19.
On Tuesday afternoon, the EC dispatched a letter to Soren’s office asking him to appear on June 28. EC sources claimed that Soren was given a rider that if he fails to appear on the given date, the EC would initiate proceedings based on the written records and submissions of the case which are available with it.
Soren is under the EC’s scanner since May 2 this year for allegedly violating Section 9(A) of the People’s Representation Act of 1951 and misusing his office to allot the mining lease of a blackstone quarry in Angara block of Ranchi district last year in his name. If found guilty, Soren would need to step down from his office.
In his response to the EC notice, Hemant Soren had claimed that the lease was allotted to him in 2008, when he was not into politics. He even deposed before the commission that he had surrendered the mining lease in February this year and did not initiate any mining activity in the last 14 years.
Meanwhile, BJP’s Jharkhand MP Nishikant Dubey criticised Soren for buying more time. “Does the CM believe that there was no other lawyer in this country to appear for him?” Dubey tweeted.
