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CBI questions former governor Malik over his bribery allegations
The probe agency filed two FIRs in April based on Satya Pal Malik’s allegation that he was offered a bribe of ₹300 crore to clear two files when he was in office as J&K governor.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday questioned former Meghalaya governor Satya Pal Malik in a case related to alleged irregularities in two projects in Jammu and Kashmir during his stint as governor between 2018-19.
The interrogation was conducted after Malik’s five-year tenure as Meghalaya governor ended on October 4.
“I was called by the probe agency and they took details of my observations regarding the case. No information related to further questioning was conveyed to me,” Malik said. According to the CBI, Malik was examined two days ago and he was again questioned on Saturday for further details.
The probe agency filed two FIRs in April based on Malik’s allegation that he was offered a bribe of ₹300 crore to clear two files when he was in office as J&K governor. Malik levelled corruption allegations in connection with awarding contracts for a group medical insurance scheme for government employees.
According to him, one of the files was related to a leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological mentor of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
“Two files had come for my consideration. One of the secretaries told me that if I approve these, I can get ₹150 crore for each. I turned down the offer, saying that I had brought five kurta pyjamas to Kashmir and will just go back with them,” Malik had said on October 17, 2021, at a function in Rajasthan.
In one of its FIRs, the CBI alleged that malpractices took place in awarding ₹2,200 crore worth of contract of civil work of Kiru Hydro Electric Power Project to a private company in 2019. It also booked Anil Ambani’s Reliance General Insurance Company and Trinity Re-Insurance Brokers Limited in relation to a controversial health insurance scheme.
Officials of Chenab Valley Power Projects Pvt Ltd, along with others, were also booked in the hydropower corruption case.
