Ranchi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday allowed Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and BJP, the two parties in the office of profit case, to appear with their arguments on June 14. The development comes after Soren had expressed his inability to appear on May 31 and requested additional time to reply. This followed the Commission setting June 14 as the new date for the proceedings, and informing both parties of the same via letters.
The issue kicked off after BJP accused the CM of illegally leasing a stone chips mine located in Ranchi's Anagada in his own name while handling the mining portfolio back in 2021, violating office of profit norms. The ECI, taking the matter into consideration, had asked him to reply by May 10, but the CM had sought additional time in view of his mother's ill health. On May 20, Soren replied, noting there was no such mining lease in his name.
Also read: Congress hopeful of getting Jharkhand Rajya Sabha seat: Avinash Pande
Following this, the ECI released an order asking parties concerned to appear before them on May 31, which, after Saturday's extension, has been postponed to June 14. Meanwhile, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) expressed interest in being a party to the proceedings on Saturday. The letter, signed by JMM General Secretary Vinod Pandey, said that the party was "vitally interested in the above-mentioned proceedings before the Election Commission and seeks intervention and to be added party in the above proceedings as its rights and interest will be affected by any order that may be made by the commission...".
