Kalam accepts Shibu Soren's resignation

President A P J Abdul Kalam today accepted the resignation of Union Coal Minister Shibu Soren, who was on Tuesday convicted in connection with the 1994 murder case of his personal secretary, Shashinath Jha.

According to a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson, Kalam accepted Soren's resignation from the Council of Ministers in Bhubaneshwar.

Prior to his arrest yesterday, Soren submitted his resignation before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who forwarded it to the President.

Earlier, a Tis Hazari court pronounced Soren guilty of conspiring, abducting and murdering Jha on May 22, 1994.

Additional Sessions Judge B. R. Kedia pronounced the judgment, and also convicted four of the six co-accused in the case.

The six co-accused in the case were Sunil Khaware, Ashish Thakur, Nand Kishore alias Nandu, Shailendra Bhattacharya, Ajay Kumar Mehta and Pashupati Nath Mehta.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had filed a chargesheet against the seven, including the Minster on November 10, 1998.

The CBI had then alleged that Jha was abducted on May 22, 1994, from Dhaula Kuan in New Delhi and taken to Ranchi, where he was murdered.

The CBI contended that the motive behind Jha's murder was his knowledge about the payment of a bribe that four erstwhile JMM MPs had received.

In return for cash, these MPs had voted against a no-confidence motion moved on former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao in July 1993.

The Tis Hazari court will be awarding the sentence on November 30.

Soon after the verdict, Soren was taken into custody.

Soren's conviction could result in fresh troubles for the ruling UPA as the opposition BJP has been campaigning relentlessly for the ouster of criminal ministers.

Soren, chief of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, is an important ally for the UPA coalition and has considerable political presence in the tribal state of Jharkhand.

He is representing Dumka Lok Sabha constituency in the present Lok Sabha.

This is not the first time that Soren is facing arrest. In 2004, soon after UPA government came to power, an arrest warrant was issued in his name by the Jharkhand police in connection to the 1975 Chirrudih massacre.

As the Opposition parties demanded his resignation, Soren went 'underground' and remained untraced till he formally resigned on July 24, 2004.

UPA led Congress came out in his support and alleged that 'arrest warrant' was politically motivated since Jharkhand was then ruled by his 'political opponent, the BJP'.

Later, he surrendered to the police and got bail.

In 2005, Soren became the Chief Minister of Jharkhand but had to soon resign after his government failed to secure a majority in the House. (ANI)

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