Jharkhand CM's legal team concludes arguments before EC in mining lease case

The legal team of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Friday concluded its arguments before the Election Commission in a disqualification petition which accuses him of extending himself a mining lease asserting that the provision of an election law does not apply in the case.

However, in its rejoinder to Soren's arguments, the BJP -- petitioner in the case -- cited a ''series of Supreme Court judgments'' which cover such cases of ''conflict of interests''.

''Hemant Soren's counsel said during the arguments that the cases are not covered under Section 9 A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (which deals with ''Disqualification for Government contracts''). They argued for nearly two hours. Following which we gave our rejoinder and showed it is a matter of conflict of interest and there are a series of judgments of the Supreme Court which cover this (case),'' BJP's counsel Kumar Harsh told reporters after the EC hearing.

He said the EC has fixed August 18 as the date for written submissions by both the sides. ''We hope that the judgment is delivered soon,'' Harsh said.

While dealing with such cases, the EC functions as a quasi-judicial body.

The BJP as the petitioner in the case had asserted that Soren violated the provision of the election law by extending himself a favour with a government contract while in office.

Following a reference from the Jharkhand governor, the poll panel in May issued a notice to the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader under Section 9A of the Representation of the People Act as it is alleged that owning the lease violates this law.

The petition has sought his disqualification as an MLA.