Kiru hydropower case: Former J-K governor Satya Pal Malik in CBI chargesheet

The CBI has filed a chargesheet against former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik and five others in connection with alleged corruption in the award of Rs 2,200 crore worth of civil works for the Kiru hydropower project, officials said on Thursday, 22 May.

The agency has submitted its findings before a special court after a three-year probe, naming Malik and five others as accused.

In a message on X on Thursday, Malik said he was admitted in hospital and not in a condition to talk to anyone.

The former governor said he was getting calls from many well-wishers which he was unable to take.

The CBI had conducted searches at the premises of Malik and others in connection with the case in February last year.

In a statement after the registration of the FIR in 2022, the CBI had said the case pertains to the alleged malpractices in the award of the contract worth about Rs 2,200 crore of civil works of the Kiru Hydro Electric Power (HEP) Project to a private company in 2019.

Malik, who was the governor of Jammu and Kashmir from 23 August 2018 to 30 October 2019, had claimed that he was offered a Rs 300-crore bribe for clearing two files, including the one pertaining to the project.

He had denied allegations of corruption against him after the agency conducted search operation last year.

Malik said his residence was raided by the CBI instead of investigating the people he had complained about and who were involved 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," he had posted online.

The central agency has booked Navin Kumar Choudhary, the then-chairman of the Chenab Valley Power Projects Private Limited (CVPPPL), and other officials including M.S. Babu, M.K. Mittal and Arun Kumar Mishra, besides 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.