New Delhi, 03 August (H.S.): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has informed the Supreme Court that the Arunachal Pradesh government is not cooperating with its probe into allegations that contracts were awarded to companies linked to relatives of Chief Minister Pema Khandu. Following the CBI’s submission, the Supreme Court has directed the Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary (Home) of Arunachal Pradesh to personally appear before it.

A bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath directed the two senior officials to explain why they failed to comply with the Supreme Court’s order and allegedly did not cooperate with the investigation. The court took note of the status report filed by the CBI on July 17, which stated that the state government was not extending cooperation in the matter.

Earlier, on April 6, the Supreme Court had ordered a CBI probe into the allegations and directed the agency to begin the investigation within two weeks. The court had said that the probe would cover government contracts awarded between January 2015 and December 2025.

During the earlier hearing, counsel for the petitioner Prashant Bhushan had alleged that the state was being “looted” and claimed that several contracts were awarded to companies linked to the wife and nephew of the Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister. He alleged that these contracts were granted in violation of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the code of conduct for ministers.

Bhushan had further claimed that around 70 contracts worth thousands of crores of rupees were awarded to a company associated with the Chief Minister’s wife and nephew.

However, the counsel appearing for the Arunachal Pradesh government had opposed the petition, describing it as an abuse of the legal process. The state government had argued that the petition was politically motivated.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar