Guwahati: The Supreme Court on Monday directed the CBI to submit a fresh status report on its preliminary enquiry into allegations of preferential allotment of government contracts in Arunachal Pradesh to firms allegedly linked to family members of Chief Minister Pema Khandu.
The direction came after the Arunachal Pradesh government told a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta that it had complied with the court’s direction to provide the CBI with the necessary records and documents.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state, said the chief secretary and principal secretary (Home) of Arunachal Pradesh were present in court pursuant to the apex court’s August 3 order.
Mehta said the state would be able to demonstrate that it had complied with the court’s directions “in letter and spirit” and sought a week to place the facts on record. He said the state had provided all the documents to the CBI.
The bench granted the state two weeks to place its stand on record. When informed that various documents had been handed over to the probe agency, the court asked the CBI to confirm whether it had received them.
In a status report submitted to the Supreme Court last month, the CBI had alleged that the state was not cooperating in providing records as directed by the court.
During Monday’s hearing, advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for petitioner NGOs Save Mon Region Federation and Voluntary Arunachal Sena, asked whether the materials collected and examined by the CBI during its preliminary enquiry were insufficient to register a regular case.
The bench said the issue would have to be examined by the CBI.
Bhushan later sought a direction to the CBI to file a fresh status report by the next date of hearing. The bench directed the agency to submit one.
On April 6, the Supreme Court had directed the CBI to register a preliminary enquiry within two weeks into allegations of preferential allotment of contracts in Arunachal Pradesh.
The court had passed the order on a plea filed by Save Mon Region Federation and Voluntary Arunachal Sena, which sought a CBI or SIT probe into the matter.
The Supreme Court on Monday 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 principal secretary (Home) had also filed an affidavit. It allowed the petitioner to file a reply to the affidavit within two weeks.
During an earlier hearing, the Supreme Court was told that government contracts and work orders worth around Rs 1,270 crore had been awarded over the past 10 years in Arunachal Pradesh to four firms allegedly related to Khandu’s family members.
In its order, the court said the preliminary enquiry and any consequential investigation would cover the award and execution of public works contracts and work orders in Arunachal Pradesh between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2025, including works and documents placed on record in the proceedings.