Ranchi/Jamshedpur, March 9: For chief minister Shibu Soren, a stopover in Patna appears fated.

On Monday, he had to appear before Delhi High Court in a criminal case and missed the service flight to Ranchi. He took instead an afternoon flight to Patna and got a helicopter to fly down to the Bihar capital and bring him back.

Today, once again, he found himself stranded in Patna. The chief minister and four of his ministers had boarded the plane for New Delhi early in the afternoon, ostensibly to call on the President and assure him of a fair trial of strength in the Assembly. Once the plane landed in Patna, however, Soren was informed of the Supreme Court?s order.

The chief minister and his entourage hurriedly disembarked and sent for a helicopter once again, returning to Ranchi late in the evening.

Advocate-general R.S. Majumdar, appointed earlier in the day, was asked to rush to the airport where Soren, his advisers and lawyers huddled together to explore the options. Soren announced he would not file a review petition.

The upbeat BJP-led alliance has chartered a plane to bring back the MLAs, including the five Independents, from the Sunrise Resort in Jaipur where they had been camping since Friday.

?We will start at 6.30 am tomorrow,? said a BJP leader. The plane is expected to land in Ranchi around 10 am. The Assembly session is scheduled to begin an hour later.