Day after CBI respite, SC issues notice to Soren

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday put a wrench in CBI's works to organize respite for JMM chief Shibu Soren in the case of the murder of his former personal secretary Shashinath Jha in a development which may frustrate the tribal leader's aspiration for a return to the Manmohan Singh cabinet. While the agency had, as it appealed the acquittal by the Delhi high court of other accused, left Soren out, the SC issued notice to the former Union minister on a petition by the wife and children of the murder victim. A bench comprising Justices Altamas Kabir and J M Panchal also issued notice to other accused — Nand Kishore Mehta, Shalendra Bhattacharya, Ajay Kumar Mehta and Pashupati Nath Mehta — who along with Soren were acquitted by HC. CBI's move raised eyebrows since it had named Soren as the key accused before the trial court which held him and others guilty. The intervention by the court coincided with clear indications that the government may be considering a minor ministerial shake up at the Centre as part of the exercise to tone up the government and Congress organization ahead of crucial elections. Soren, who was reluctant to quit, had renewed his claim for a comeback in the reshuffle which has become necessary for satisfying the aspirants, as well as for relieving those who have since been given organisational responsibilities. While several ministers have for long been tasked with organisational chores, the failure of personnel minister Suresh Pachauri, newly appointed chief of Madhya Pradesh Congress, to get an RS berth from another state is seen as the sign that their porfolios may become lighter soon. Pachauri enjoys a high loyalty quotient. The long-speculated ministerial reshuffle has now been tentatively scheduled during the month-long recess in the budget session of Parliament. It will be undertaken along with the filling of vacancies in the Raj Bhavans, such as in Mumbai and Puducherry, and larger rejig in Maharashtra. The CBI had alleged before the trial court that Soren had got his private secretary murdered after he started demanding his share from the alleged bribe money received by the MP as compensation for his support to save the Congress government led by then Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao in 1993. Even though CBI made all efforts to shield Soren, who still nurses an ambition of returning to the Union Cabinet as his party supports the UPA coalition government at the Centre, it was undone by the petition by Jha's widow and children who had challenged his acquittal. Jha's widow Kavita and her two children Preeti and Mukesh, in their joint petition, said the trial court had rightly convicted Soren of murder and awarded life imprisonment to him for the murder. CBI, which took over prosecution on the orders of the HC, had accused Soren of masterminding the killing of his personal secretary for allegedly demanding a fair share in the money he (Soren) had received in the JMM bribery scam in 1993. CBI, which was entrusted the probe into Jha's murder by HC, recovered his skeleton within 13 days of taking up the investigation on August 1, 1996, from Piska Nagari village near Ranchi. On November 10, 1998, it filed the chargesheet against Soren and others. The trial court convicted Soren and others and awarded them life imprisonment on December 5, 2006. However, HC acquitted all of them on August 22, 2007.
The Times of India; 15 Mar 2008, 0219 hrs IST , TNN