Photo Courtesy: nenow
Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu blames a legal slip-up for the Supreme Court summons currently facing his top bureaucrats. The state’s standing counsel missed a recent hearing, leaving the bench to hear only the Central Bureau of Investigation’s version of events. Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta ordered the Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary (Home) to appear personally on August 24.
Khandu says the court only heard the CBI’s claims about missing records because the state was not there to argue back. The state maintains it has already handed over key data and documents to investigators. "The standing counsel members from Arunachal Pradesh missed the hearing. Because of their absence, it became a one-sided hearing, and the state could neither represent its position nor place before the court the cooperation extended to the CBI in terms of providing data and records," Khandu said.
The controversy stems from a Public Interest Litigation filed by the Save Mon Region Federation. They demand an independent probe into alleged irregularities surrounding government contracts worth hundreds of crores. The petition claims these contracts were handed to firms tied to Khandu’s family and close associates, violating anti-corruption norms.
Earlier, the Supreme Court ordered the CBI to run a preliminary enquiry into contracts issued between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2025. Judges told the state to name a nodal officer and hand over all relevant files. Now, the CBI reports it is still hitting walls while trying to gather documentation. The state government plans to set the record straight when the matter returns to court in late August.
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