Enquiry into award of contracts in Arunachal Pradesh: SC seeks fresh status report

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the CBI to submit a fresh status report on its preliminary enquiry into allegations of preferential allotment of contracts in Arunachal Pradesh to firms allegedly owned by or linked to family members of Chief Minister Pema Khandu.

The Arunachal Pradesh Government told a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta that it had complied with the apex court’s direction to provide the CBI with the necessary records and documents.

In a status report submitted to the top court last month, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had alleged that the state was not cooperating in providing the records as directed by the court.

“I (state) would need a week to place the facts on record,” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state, told the bench on Monday.

He said that pursuant to the apex court’s August 3 order, the chief secretary and principal secretary (Home) of Arunachal Pradesh were present in court.

“We will be able to satisfy the court that they (directions) are complied with in letter and spirit,” Mehta said, adding that the state has given all the documents to the probe agency.

The bench said it would give the state two weeks to place its stand on record.

When the bench was told that various documents have been handed over to the agency, it asked the CBI to confirm whether they have received them.

On April 6, the apex court had directed the CBI to register a preliminary enquiry within two weeks into allegations of preferential allotment of contracts in the State.

The top court had passed the order on a plea filed by NGOs Save Mon Region Federation and Voluntary Arunachal Sena seeking a CBI or SIT probe into the matter.

During Monday’s hearing, advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner NGOs, asked whether the materials collected and examined by the CBI during the preliminary inquiry so far were not sufficient to register a regular case.

The bench said the issue had to be examined by the CBI.

The top court also agreed to hear a separate plea related to the issue and asked Mehta to take instructions and file a counter affidavit, if necessary.

The bench noted that the chief secretary and the principal secretary (Home) of Arunachal Pradesh had also filed an affidavit. It allowed the petitioner to file a reply to the affidavit within two weeks.

At the fag end of the hearing, Bhushan requested the bench to direct the CBI to file a fresh status report by the next date of hearing. “The CBI shall also submit a fresh status report,” the bench said. While hearing the matter on August 3, the top court had sought responses from the chief secretary and principal secretary (Home) of Arunachal Pradesh after the CBI claimed “non-cooperation” by the state.

In its April 6 order, the top court had directed the Arunachal Pradesh Government and all its concerned departments, authorities and instrumentalities to fully cooperate with the CBI.

It had observed that the state and its instrumentalities cannot confer benefits according to the “whims of any political or administrative functionary”.

It had said the matter was a fit case for an “independent investigation”.

“Accordingly, we deem it appropriate that CBI shall register a preliminary enquiry forthwith and shall conduct a time-bound investigation into the award and execution of the public works contracts and work orders which form the subject matter of this writ petition and the affidavits filed in these proceedings,” it had said.

During an earlier hearing, the apex court was told that Government contracts and work orders worth around Rs 1,270 crore were awarded in the last 10 years in Arunachal Pradesh to four firms allegedly related to the family members of Khandu.

In its verdict, the top court had said the preliminary enquiry and consequential investigation, if any, shall cover the award and execution of public works contracts and work orders in Arunachal Pradesh from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2025, including the works and compilations placed on record in the proceedings before it.