CM Soren withdraws petition filed against Governor

Ranchi: Chief Minister Hemant Soren has withdrawn a petition filed in the High Court against the Governor of Jharkhand. The petition, originally filed in 2022, sought the disclosure of the Election Commission’s decision regarding allegations of office of profit against the Chief Minister.

The matter stemmed from accusations related to the allotment of a mining lease in Hemant Soren’s name, which several BJP leaders, including former Chief Minister Raghubar Das, claimed constituted holding an office of profit. They had urged the Governor to disqualify Soren from his legislative position.

In response, the then Governor Ramesh Bais referred the matter to the Election Commission of India (ECI). After hearing all parties, including the state government, BJP, and Hemant Soren himself, the ECI sent its opinion to the Governor. However, the Governor did not take any public action or communicate the decision to the government, sparking legal uncertainty.

Amid media reports claiming that the ECI had recommended the cancellation of Soren’s membership, and with no official communication from the Raj Bhavan, the Chief Minister moved the High Court seeking disclosure of the ECI’s recommendation.

However, the petition was found to contain procedural defects, and the court had directed the petitioner to rectify them. The matter came up for hearing before Justice Rajesh Kumar on August 8, 2024, but no one appeared on behalf of the petitioner. The court granted two more weeks to address the issues, warning that failure to comply would lead to automatic dismissal.

Later, the petition was listed before Justice Deepak Roshan on December 4, 2024. At that hearing, the petitioner’s lawyer requested that the next hearing be scheduled for December 13. The court agreed, but the case was eventually listed for March 28, 2025, instead.

During the hearing on March 28, counsel representing Hemant Soren submitted a request to withdraw the petition. The court accepted the request and dismissed the case accordingly.

The withdrawal effectively ends the legal proceedings initiated by the Chief Minister regarding the delayed disclosure of the Election Commission’s findings by the Governor.