CBI has filed a case in a J&K hydroelectricity project
The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed a case into alleged corruption in a hydroelectric power project and a discontinued insurance scheme in Jammu and Kashmir, after former Governor Satyapal Malik alleged irregularities.
Mr Malik, who is now the Governor of Meghalaya, had alleged corruption in these two projects.
The construction of the Kiru hydroelectric project that would generate 624 megawatt was approved by the centre in March 2019 for an estimated Rs 4,287.59 crore.
The CBI has also carried out raids in Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, Mumbai and Delhi. The home of Indian Administrative Service officer Naveen Choudhary was searched. Mr Choudhary is the former chairman of Chenab Valley Power Projects Pvt Ltd, or CVVPPL.
Other accused include CVVPPL senior executives MS Babu and MK Mittal, Patel Engineering Ltd, and former CVVPPL director Arun Kumar Mishra.
In the First Information Report, or FIR, the CBI said e-tender process wasn't followed while awarding civil works of the project worth Rs 2,240 crore to Patel Engineering Ltd. The CVPPL board decided to re-tender all major works through e-tendering process in June 2019, but it was reversed in another board meeting in August the same year, after which the major work was awarded to Patel Engineering Ltd.
Mr Malik had specifically pointed out two alleged corruption matters when he was Jammu and Kashmir Governor. One was the hydroelectric project against which a case has been filed now, and the other was a medical insurance scheme for government employees and their families, which was cancelled, citing fraud, a month after it was rolled out in October 2018.
Earlier this month, Mr Malik said he had told Prime Minister Narendra Modi about a Rs 300 crore bribe offered to him to clear two files while he was Governor.