CBI files chargesheet against ex-J&K governor Satya Pal Malik, five others in Kiru hydropower corruption case

The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed a charge sheet against former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik and five others in Kiru hydropower corruption case, officials said on Thursday.

Malik and others have been accused of corruption in the award of ₹2,200-crore civil works for the hydropower project.

The CBI submitted its findings at a special court, naming Satya Pal Malik and five others as accused in the case. The charge sheet came after three years of the agency conducting its probe.

What are the charges against Satya Pal Malik?

The investigation began after an FIR was registered in 2022 and the CBI was requested to look into the case. In a statement after the registration of the FIR, the CBI had said the case pertains to the alleged malpractices in the award of the contract worth about ₹2,200 crore of civil works of the Kiru Hydro Electric Power (HEP) Project to a private company in 2019.

Meanwhile, Satya Pal Malik alleged that he was offered a bribe of ₹300 crore for clearing two files, including the one pertaining to the project when he was governor of Jammu and Kashmir.

In February 2024, the CBI conducted searches in Malik's premises in connection with the case. However, he has denied all allegations. The former governor 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 on social media.

The investigating 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.