Ranchi: Jharkhand high court on Thursday set aside the criminal proceedings initiated against chief minister Hemant Soren for allegedly violating the model code of conduct in the 2014 assembly elections.Soren was facing prosecution in the district court in West Singhbhum for violation of the model code of conduct. An FIR was filed in the Adityapur Police Station in 2014 against Hemant for violating the model code.Hemant moved before the high court, which had stayed the criminal proceedings against him earlier. In course of arguments on Thursday, Hemant’s counsel argued that there has been no violation and the FIR was initiated due to political vendetta. As a matter of fact, he had only participated in a campaign to canvas for a candidate of his party.In Oct 2023, Jharkhand HC had stayed the proceedings in the case and directed that no coercive action be taken against Hemant while the matter was pending before the high court. The court of Justice Anil Kumar Choudhary after having heard the petition at length today quashed the criminal proceedings against him.
