‘Sentence me to a punishment’: Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren on office of profit case

New Delhi: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Saturday asserted that his is an unprecedented case in which a criminal or an accused is pleading for punishment while the constitutional authorities that should have pronounced judgment are silent. Soren was referring to the threats of his disqualification as an MLA on the basis of the purported Election Commission advisory to Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais on August 25 in an office-of-profit case following a petition by the BJP.  However, the Governor is maintaining silence on the issue. "Have you ever heard of any example in the country in which a criminal or an accused is pleading for punishment or to know about the quantum of punishment? I have been appealing to His Excellency (the governor) with folded hands to announce the verdict, whatever be the punishment,” the Chief Minister told in a press conference here.

He slammed the BJP-led central government, accusing it of abusing agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate and constitutional authorities to cause havoc in states ruled by non-BJP parties. "Who is responsible for this? If any criminal is holding a constitutional post and is repeatedly trying to know his crime, his punishment. Make it clear (to him). We have not seen such instances in India's history. Our representatives met him (Governor), I met the Governor. We even applied through RTI to know the details," Soren whose JMM-led coalition government will be completing three years in December said.

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He claimed that he felt 'penalised' and victimised' in absence of transparency. “The prevalent situation is no less than punishment to me. I have been saying that if I committed a crime, how I am allowed to hold a constitutional post," he said. Lashing out at the saffron party, the JMM leader said its leaders talk about ethics and morality but fail to follow the same. "Our rivals talk of morality and ethics. What kind of ethics is this? This can be explained only by them. Who is answerable for this - the Governor, the Election Commission, or those who are backing them? I am unaware of the verdict but it seems our opponents know everything,? Hemant Soren states.

As far as the question of political instability (in Jharkhand) is concerned, I feel that there is no such instability. Everything is normal...This is an artificial tornado: Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren (1/3) pic.twitter.com/98r8ITjPlZ — ANI (@ANI) October 15, 2022

(With agencies' Inputs)