Soren lawyer files plea in Jharkhand HC

On the warrant against Soren, Congress leader Girija Vyas said, ‘‘We have complete faith in the rule of law. The whole matter is politically motivated as the case relates to an agitation in 1975…It is political vendetta.’’

Twenty-nine years have passed since the FIR in the case was filed by Jamtara deputy collector I.C. Mishra at Narayanpur police station on January 23, 1975.

Soren has been named as accused in the case in which 11 people were killed and 18 houses were torched at Chirrudih village in Jamtara district. The district falls under Dumka constituency represented by Soren in the Lok Sabha. Nine of the victims belonged to the Muslim community.

In a statement recorded by the police just before his death, Lakhendra Soren, one of the victims, had allegedly said: ‘‘He (Shibu Soren) had incited the mob to launch the attack’’.

After the police submitted the chargesheet on December 6, 1986, the court issued summons to all 69 accused. However, only 59 of the accused responded and faced trial in the court of the Additional District Sessions Judge. The trial of the other 10 accused, including Soren, didn’t take off.

Two days ago, after the BJP-led Opposition launched attacks on the Government over reports that Soren was a ‘‘proclaimed offender’’, Home Minister Shivraj Patil gave a clean chit to Soren on the basis of a report submitted by the State Secretary (Home), who said the JMM leader was out on bail. ‘‘The state government report shows Soren is not a proclaimed offender,’’ Patil said on the floor of the Rajya Sabha on July 17.