The Supreme Court on Wednesday restrained the Jharkhand High Court from proceeding with PILs seeking a probe against Chief Minister Hemant Soren who has been accused of granting himself a mining lease as the State's Mining Minister.
A bench of Justices UU Lalit, SR Bhat, and Sudhanshu Dhulia reserved its judgement on separate pleas of the Jharkhand government and Soren against an order of the high court that accepted the maintainability of the PIL.
"Heard counsel for the parties. Order reserved. Since this court is now seized of the matter, the high court shall not proceed with the pending petitions," the bench said. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the State Government, submitted that the high court had decided on maintainability even before all the documents were placed before it. "I have to say this in open court, milords, I am sorry. Where is the occasion in the matter that you are holding the court outside the state and hearing the matter? What is the urgency? Sibal stated. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Soren, questioned the credentials of the PIL petitioner.
Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the Enforcement Directorate, said criminal petitions should not be thrown out on technical grounds.
BJP national vice president and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das had 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.