Hemant Soren allowed to take part in floor test, lawyer says ED cat out of bag

As a special court in Ranchi on Saturday allowed former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren to take part in the floor test on February 5, advocate general Rajiv Ranjan said the ED vehemently objected to the petition as the actual intention was to bring down the government.

“Now the cat is out of the bag. The purpose of arresting Hemant Soren was to bring down the government by not allowing one MLA to participate in the floor test voting. The entire exercise is malafide which has been our stand from the very beginning,” the advocate general said.

The floor test will begin at 11am on February 5 and Hemant Soren will participate in the process as long as the voting continues.

Jharkhand floor test on February 5: Here are the top 10 developments

1. Champai Soren will prove his majority in the Assembly on February 5. The JMM-led coalition MLAs have been parked at a Hyderabad resort to keep the flock together — safe from BJP’s poaching attempts, if any.

2. “Applicant (Soren) is, therefore, filing the present Application seeking an order from this Hon’ble Court to permit the Applicant to attend the Special Session of the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly and participate in the proceedings of the Floor Test slated for February 5 at 11 AM,” the petition said. The court allowed the plea.

3. The AG said the ED has no business to object to proceedings of the Assembly when he (Hemant Soren) is not interfering with the investigation but still they did. “Our petition has been allowed,” Rajiv Ranjan said.

4. Congress is safeguarding the MLAs ensuring police personnel, and separate dining arrangements for the MLAs at the resort.

5. According to reports, police officers are guarding the entry and exit points of the lifts through which one can reach the MLAs. They are not accessible by other guests of the resorts.

6. Hemant Soren has been lodged at the Birsa Munda jail. The ED would bring him to its office for questioning today. Hemant Soren moved the Supreme Court against the arrest but the top court asked him to approach the high court.

7. In the 81-member Jharkhand assembly, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha has 29, its ally the Congress has 17 seats while the RJD and the CPI (ML) have 1 seat each. The majority mark is 41. JMM-coalition claimed the support of 43 MLAs.

The BJP has 26 seats, AJSU 3 while Independents and others have 3 MLAs. One seat in the assembly is vacant.

8. The MLAs will leave Hyderabad on Monday morning, hours before the floor test.

9. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal on Saturday said there would hardly be a case in the history where a sitting CM is arrested. “The Supreme Court did not even hear our case. It could have first heard the case and then told us to go to the high court,” Sibal said. “Now 10 more baseless cases will now be added on Hemant Soren ji so that he does not come out and the BJP reaps the benefits in the 2024 Lok Sabha election,” Sibal added.

10. The land which is at the centre of the alleged scam is tribal land and it cannot be transferred to anyone, Sibal said adding that that land has no connection with Hemant Soren.