Ranchi: The date for the hearing on the petition by the Union Coal Minister Sibu Soren against the non-bailable arrest warrant against him would be decided on Monday (Jul 26, 2004).

Jharkhand High Court today (Jul 23, 2004) told the counsel of Soren that the criminal writ petition would be listed on Monday.

"Before I could mention before the Honorable Chief Justice P K Subramanium Aiyer, he said it would be listed on Monday," Soren's lawyer R S Majumder told reporters in Ranchi.

The Chief Justice had yesterday (Jul 22, 2004) told the team of lawyers representing Soren, headed by R K Jain, that the case relating to the non-bailable arrest warrant served on the Union Minister by a lower court in the 1975 Chirrudih massacre case, would be listed for hearing today.

The direction had come after Justice Laxman Oraon, who was to take up the case yesterday, had declined to do so as he had recorded the dying declaration of Lakhendra Soren, a co-accused in the January 23, 1975 massacre, when he was posted as the Judicial Magistrate, Jamtara.

Jamtara Sub-divisional Judicial Magistrate A K Mishra had issued the arrest warrant on July 17 against Soren in connection with the massacre.

Soren challenged the arrest warrant and property attachment order against him and sought a direction from the court to the State Government to withdraw the case, registered under various IPC sections.

He prayed to the court to quash the proceedings against him following the Jharkhand Government's assurance in the first Assembly session after the State's creation to withdraw all cases relating to the Jharkhand movement.

Warrants have also been issued against nine others in the case.