The Supreme Court on Monday continued hearing a plea seeking a CBI probe into alleged irregularities in the award of government tenders in Arunachal Pradesh to firms allegedly linked to the family members of the State’s political leadership.
During the hearing, the State sought two weeks’ time to file its response and maintained that it had complied with the Court’s earlier directions. The Bench directed the State to place its position on affidavit and asked the CBI to confirm receipt of the documents handed over to it.
The Court was particularly concerned with the material required for the CBI’s preliminary enquiry. The Bench noted that the CBI would have to receive and scrutinise the documents before determining whether the material warranted registration of a regular case.
The Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta also noted that the State had apparently supplied the CBI with documents relating to all the contracts, rather than only those contracts allegedly awarded to firms connected with the family. The Bench observed that providing such a large volume of material could make the exercise more difficult and delay the investigation.
During the hearing, the Court also directed the petitioner to provide a copy of a subsequent connected petition to Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was appearing for the State and its officers, so that instructions could be taken and a counter, if necessary, could be filed. The court issued notice to the subsequent connected petition filed by Nabam Kakum.
The Bench further dealt with the personal appearance of the Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary (Home), who had been called upon to respond to the Court’s earlier directions. It noted that affidavits explaining the show-cause issued pursuant to the Court’s order dated August 3, 2026 had been filed. The Court directed that the remaining reply, if any, be filed within two weeks and clarified that the personal appearance of the two officers would not be required in future unless specifically directed.
On the request of Senior Advocate Prashant Bhushan, the Court also directed the CBI to file a fresh status report on the next date, after the State’s response and documents had been placed on record.
The allegations before the Court concern the award of government contracts/tenders to firms allegedly connected with members of the family of the Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister. The Court is monitoring the compliance of its earlier directions concerning the CBI’s preliminary enquiry.
The matter was directed to be listed after four weeks.