Photo Courtesy: nenow
Guwahati: Abdul Wahed and Jayanta Gogoi are heading to the Gauhati High Court later this month. They plan to fight the closure of the long-running Louis Berger bribery investigation. A special CBI court tossed the matter out on Wednesday, siding with the agency’s request to drop all criminal proceedings.
The CBI’s Anti-Corruption-I branch out of New Delhi first pushed to end the probe on May 12, 2026. The agency claimed they found no prosecutable evidence. Wahed and Gogoi filed a protest petition on October 8, 2026, but the judge stood by the closure. "We are not happy at the verdict by the honourable court and will move the Gauhati High Court at the end of this month challenging CBI’s decision to close the case prematurely," Wahed said.
The complainants argue the CBI left the job unfinished. They point specifically to an unexecuted Letter Rogatory sent to the United States on April 24, 2016. This request aimed to secure US court judgments and testimony from six people, including former Louis Berger executive James McClung and FBI personnel. The petition claims the investigation failed to follow the money trail, focusing too heavily on procurement paperwork rather than potential kickbacks.
Critics also flagged an internal investigation by the US law firm Baker & McKenzie LLP. That report hinted at improper payments to Assam officials between 2009 and 2013. Complainants also highlighted an August 17, 2010, email between Prasana Shah and James McClung as a lead that went cold. While the CBI argued bank account checks showed no direct transactions to officials, petitioners maintain bribes likely moved through offshore accounts or intermediaries.
The case began in July 2015 when an FIR alleged Louis Berger paid Rs 6 crore in bribes to land contracts for the Guwahati Water Supply Project. The Gauhati High Court handed the case to the CBI in 2017. Deputy Superintendent of Police Ankit Meena eventually filed the final closure report, effectively ending the federal pursuit of the matter.
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