CBI files chargesheet against former J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik in Kiru hydropower case
Satya Pal Malik had claimed he was offered a ₹300-crore bribe to clear two files, including one related to Kiru hydropower project.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a chargesheet against former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik in connection with alleged corruption related to the award of a ₹2,200-crore contract for civil works on the Kiru hydropower project.
Following a three-year probe, the agency presented its findings to a special court, naming Malik and five others as accused.
In February last year, the CBI conducted searches at the premises of Malik and others in connection with the case.
Following the FIR registration in 2022, the agency said that the case involves alleged malpractices in awarding a contract worth approximately ₹2,200 crore for civil works of the Kiru Hydro Electric Power (HEP) project to a private company in 2019.
Malik, who served as the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir from August 23, 2018, to October 30, 2019, claimed he was offered a ₹300-crore bribe to clear two files, including one related to the project.
He denied all corruption allegations against him following the agency’s search operation last year.
Malik also alleged that the CBI raided his residence instead of investigating the individuals he had accused of involvement in corruption.
“They will not get anything except 4-5 kurtas and pyjamas. The dictator is trying to scare me by misusing government agencies. I am a farmer's son, I will neither be afraid nor bow down,” Malik had said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
The central agency has filed charges against Navin Kumar Choudhary, the then chairman of Chenab Valley Power Projects Private Limited (CVPPPL), along with officials M S Babu, M K Mittal, Arun Kumar Mishra, and the construction firm Patel Engineering Limited.
“Though a decision was taken in the 47th board meeting of CVPPPL for re-tender through e-tendering with a reverse auction after the cancellation of the ongoing tendering process, the same was not implemented (according to the decision taken in the 48th board meeting) and the tender was finally awarded to Patel Engineering Limited,” the FIR has alleged.
With PTI inputs
