Ranchi, June 25 (IANS) Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Thursday received major legal relief from the Jharkhand High Court, which quashed the FIR registered against him in connection with an alleged violation of the Model Code of Conduct during the 2014 Assembly elections.

With the court’s order, all judicial proceedings in the case against him have come to an end.

The order was passed by the Bench of Justice Anil Kumar Choudhary after hearing arguments from all parties at length.

The case pertained to allegations of violation of the Model Code of Conduct during the 2014 Jharkhand Assembly polls. An FIR (Case No. 418/2014) had been lodged against Hemant Soren at the Adityapur police station in Seraikela-Kharsawan district.

Soren had later approached the High Court challenging the FIR, terming the case legally unsustainable and seeking its quashing. The matter had been pending before the High Court for several years.

During the course of the hearing, the court had earlier granted an interim stay on proceedings in the lower court. Subsequently, regular hearings were held on the main petition.

Allowing the criminal writ petition filed by the Chief Minister, the court examined documents, records and legal aspects presented by both the state government and the petitioner.

During the hearing, Hemant Soren’s counsel contended that no violation of the Model Code of Conduct had taken place and alleged that the FIR was lodged purely due to political vendetta.

His counsel submitted in the court that Soren had merely participated in an election campaign for a candidate of his party – the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.

After considering all submissions, the court concluded that there were no sufficient grounds to sustain the case and accordingly ordered the FIR to be quashed.

Advocate Pradeep Chandra appeared on behalf of the Chief Minister.

–IANS

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