Occupants of land that was allegedly bought by the Sorens are protesting against eviction orders issued to them. Sanjeev Acharya investigates
M. Sanjeev Acharya investigates On September 12, the residents of Karamtoli and Nagartoli areas of Ranchi were served notices by the district administration to vacate the land and the houses in which they had been living for decades. Some residents have been there for as long as 50 years.
The notices stemmed from an order by the Schedule Area Regulation (SAR) court on the basis of the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act 1908 that prohibits the sale and purchase of tribal land by non-tribals. The order issued by the court was unequivocal in its urgency: “In case they do not abide by the order within 48 hours, they would be evicted and their land would be restored to rightful owners.”
For all practical purposes, it appears that the SAR court and the district administration were only protecting the rights of tribals. But in Shibu Soren’s Jharkhand, appearances are often misleading.
The rightful owner to whom the court order refers is none other than Rupi Soren, wife of Jharkhand chief minister Shibu Soren, allege the residents who have been served the eviction notices.
Dr Anjani Kumar Srivastava who is director (human resources) with the state government says, “We have been living here for 50 years and now the administration, under pressure from the Sorens, wants us to vacate it. Our land has been sold by the claimant to Rupi, wife of chief minister Shibu Soren. That’s why the administration is not at all ready to listen our appeal.”
Dr Srivastava and six others – including Rambriksh Singh, Kriti Bhushan Singh, Jaynarayan Mandal, Vasudev Ahir and Santosh Lal – who have been directed by the Ranchi circle officer to vacate the land and their houses within three days, have appealed to the High Court for a stay on the order.
Circle officer Asid Ekram’s September 12 order was a consequence of the order passed by the Schedule Area Regulation (SAR) court’s magistrate, Devanish Kido. Invoking the Chotanagpur Tenancy (CNT) Act 1908 that prohibits sale and purchase of tribal land to non-tribals, Kido had asked these six persons to vacate tribal land so that the property could be restored to the bona fide owners.
Dr Srivastava told CURRENT that in 1959 his family had bought four kathas from Sukra Oraon, a tribal. They had then got the land transferred to their name and had built a double-storey house on the land. The story took a twist in 2005 when a tribal named Soma Oraon who claimed to be a descendent of Sukra Oraon filed a petition alleging that the Srivastavas had illegally purchased the land. Dr Srivastava has alleged that while the case was still sub judice, Soma Oraon had sold the land to Rupi Soren.
The high court has given stay to the affected parties on the plea that they should be given appropriate time to submit their viewpoint.
When CURRENT probed the entire episode, we spoke to the affected parties, the Opposition politicians who are supporting people on this issue and also Hemant Soren, son of chief minister Shibu Soren.
Hemant Soren accepted that his mother had purchased a piece of land in Ranchi from Soma Oraon and others but that is not the same land that is under contention. He says that since the same person owns both the pieces of land, they have alleged that the Sorens have been misusing their power and authority. “We have not purchased the land which the district administration has ordered to be vacated.” We asked him how his mother or his family can purchase land in Ranchi, as the CNT Act says that if any tribal wants to sell his or her land to an other tribal, the buyer should belong to the same police station area where the seller lives. Outsiders are not allowed to purchase the land even though they may be tribals. Hemant laughed and replied, “The irony is that in our country, people oppose it if any politician wants to promote his family members in politics or if he buys land to build a house to live in the city. They want us, the tribals, to always live in the forests. So what if we purchased a plot in Ranchi? Don’t we have the right to build a house here? Everybody knows that powerful rich non-tribals have purchased huge amount of lands from poor tribals and have built their palaces here. But nobody wants to point a finger towards them. We are targeted just because we are in politics.”
When we specifically asked him to clarify whether there was an omission in the implementation of the law in their case, he denied the charge by saying that “the Commissioner has powers to relax the rules in some cases. And ours was one of them.” However, he expressed his inability to elaborate on what basis this relaxation was granted to them by the district administration.
This latest barrage of allegations against the Sorens has heated up political activity in the state capital. BJP MLA and deputy whip of the party in the assembly, CP Singh, who has publicly criticized administration’s move to order the eviction of the residents of Karamtoli and Nagartoli told CURRENT, “We are not personally attacking the Soren family. Our point is if you want to support tribals in getting their lands vacated, you do it. We also support that. But at least, sufficient time should be given to the affected party, which was not given in this case. It is reported that the said plot was purchased by the wife of chief minister, then the orders to vacate within 48 hours were passed. If this is true, we demand an independent inquiry into the matter. If the government wants to implement the CNT act, we welcome it but it also says that seller and buyers should belong to the same police station area. How can Rupi Soren buy a land here? We will continue our fight against injustice.”
Similar allegations are being levelled by labour leader Udai Shanker Ojha. “It is true that Jharkhand is a tribal state and 75 per cent of the population is tribal. It is their right to have their own land. But during one long period, the Bihar government gave some relaxations in selling tribal lands. At that time many tribals sold their land. Now if anybody is living on any such land for as long as 50 years, how can you vacate the house? Common law says that if anybody lives on any premises for more than 30 years, nobody can force them to vacate the premises.”
Ojha adds: “Rupi Soren is the resident of Ramgarh, how can she purchase the land here (Ranchi)? Just because she is the wife of Shibu Soren, is there no law for them? It is a well known fact in entire Ranchi that they are buying such disputed properties and then are trying to get them vacated through the administration.”
This is not the first time that the Sorens, Rupi in particular, have been mired in controversy regarding land deals.
In July 2006, the chief income tax commissioner of Jharkhand NK Shukla had ordered an inquiry into a controversial 37-acre land deal involving Rupi Soren, when her husband was the Union coal minister, in which Rs 69 lakh in cash was paid to the seller, Rajendra Kanodia. One of the many discrepancies in the deal was that Kanodia had apparently given false residence proof, claiming to be staying at 147 Cooperative Colony in Bokaro, though he had allegedly shifted five years prior to that. The land deal was caught up in litigation when local landless farmers challenged it in court, claiming that they never sold it and only leased it out for 10 years.
While a judgment is awaited in that case, the income tax department has started a probe to determine the source of the Rs 69 lakh as Rupi Soren’s bank account showed a balance of only a few thousand rupees. She had declared a paltry income while filing her nomination for the Assembly polls.
Shukla, addressing the media after meeting Hazaribagh commissioner Binodanand Jha and additional commissioner of Bokaro Etwa Munda, said, “It was surprising that 37 acres worth about Rs 70 lakh was bought but the deputy commissioner did not inform the income-tax department about it. The cash transaction worth Rs 70 lakh should have been done through banks or the amount should have been shown in the income-tax return filed by the buyer. It’s also mandatory for the buyer to disclose the source of the money.” He added that a permanent account number was also mandatory for a citizen of India to buy immovable property worth more than Rs 1 lakh, buy a costly vehicle or even transact in securities. But in this deal, many questions still remain unanswered and we will act according to the law, he said, ruling out buckling under pressure due to Shibu Soren’s involvement in the case. Popularly known as Chachiji, Rupi Soren Kisku, wife of the JMM chief, may be an old tribal lady, but she has learned the art of handling such controversial situations. In regard to the land deal, Rupi had said that she does not remember the area of the land or its cost. Pouring her heart out, she said Guruji married her when she was only nine years old but had never gifted her even an iron ring, leave alone gold jewellery. “I have saved money to buy the plot of land. Guruji has not given even a single penny. I bought the land after Guruji refused to listen to my pleas to do something for our children. I argued that our children will say after our death that we left them nothing but he would always say we have educated them and the rest they should manage on their own. When I realised Guruji will not do anything, I took out my savings and pressurised him into buying the plot,” she said.
“I bought the land to secure my children’s future. What will my children eat if we do not do anything for them? They can at least grow fruits and vegetables there to eat. You need something to eat and I cannot leave my children to starve,” she said further, before adding, “We are not rich people, unlike others in politics.”
“I am too old now. My skin is wrinkled and teeth have fallen. What will I do now? I just take care of the family,” she said.
Rupi, who once unsuccessfully contested parliamentary elections from Dumka in 1999, talks from her heart but her husband and son Hemant understand the political implications. Hemant also feigned ignorance about the purchase, and had said “the area must be much less and Guruji must have bought it for farming.” Guruji, he pointed out, has already said he is ready for any probe.
Even though Hemant Soren denies these allegations, no senior official in the state government is ready to answer the question of whether the law was applied under pressure or is taking its own course.