Contracts to CM’s kin: SC asks Arunachal Govt to file affidavit

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Arunachal Pradesh government to file a comprehensive affidavit giving details of the contracts awarded from 2015 to 2025, including those to firms of family members of Chief Minister Pema Khandu, saying the statistics are “telling”.

A bench of justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, which observed it would consider whether any inquiry is required or not, passed the order while hearing a plea seeking a CBI probe into the award of contracts for public works in Arunachal Pradesh to the firms owned by the family members of Khandu.

“The coincidence is absolutely remarkable,” the bench observed, adding that it was alleged before it that the difference between tenders of the competing firms was minuscule. The bench said that if the difference is minuscule, that shows cartelisation.

“If that is so, that becomes serious,” it observed, adding, “The statistics are telling.” Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for petitioner NGOs Save Mon Region Federation and Voluntary Arunachal Sena, told the bench that according to the affidavit filed by the state, several contracts and work orders were given to firms owned by the immediate family members of Khandu. The bench asked the state’s counsel why its affidavit has given details of contracts relating to the Tawang district only.

The State’s counsel said that in the petition and the subsequent orders passed by the top court, the controversy was confined to Tawang only.

“We do not find any such confinement or limitation of the petition being confined to district Tawang or the order passed by this court earlier limited it to district Tawang,” the bench said. The State’s counsel urged the court to grant him a reasonable time to file a detailed affidavit covering all the districts. Bhushan said with regard to Tawang also, the up-to-date information was not provided.

“As such, the respondent may file a comprehensive affidavit covering all the districts, including Tawang. We make it clear that the details as required by the previous order would be confined only to the period 2015 to 2025 and not prior to 2015,” the bench said. It granted eight weeks to the state to file the affidavit and posted the matter for hearing on February 3.

Bhushan said it was earlier alleged that the State had paid for the transportation of rice by headload even when a road existed there and it could have been transported through trucks, which would have been much cheaper.

“Is it something like Bihar Chara Ghotala (Bihar fodder scam),” the bench asked. Bhushan responded, “In a way.”