SC to Examine PIL Alleging Arunachal CM Awarded Contracts to Family

ITANAGAR: The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday consented to hear a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that claimed Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu gave government contracts to his relatives.

The court has ordered the state government to furnish information on the beneficiaries and whether due process was adopted while giving these contracts.

Even another bench, also led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, and constituted by Justices Sanjay Kumar and K.V. Viswanathan, issued orders asking replies from the Union Ministries of Home Affairs and Finance and Comptroller and Auditor General of India within a period of five weeks.

SC put importance on transparency and directed these institutions to provide reports clarifying the process of tendering and giving out names of those persons or entities to whom the contracts were assigned.

The PIL was brought by two NGOs, Save Mon Region Federation and Voluntary Arunachal Senaa, that leveled allegations against the majority of government contracts in Arunachal Pradesh being awarded to the chief minister's immediate family members.

The court specifically requested the state government to reveal if any contracts were awarded to Pema Khandu himself and to also report on contracts awarded to his relatives.

Chief Justice Khanna emphasized the need for obtaining a detailed report, saying, "We must have a clear-cut answer as to who are the parties to whom the contracts were awarded and what was the process followed. Were tenders called for or not? Both the ministries must come out clear." The court also asked the CAG to provide a detailed status report, keeping in mind the moral obligations of the legislators to prevent the award of government contracts.

Petitioner NGOs' counsel Advocate Prashant Bhushan said the state government was acting as a private company, with contracts said to be awarded to the chief minister's wife and cousins' firms. He asserted that "hundreds of crores have been looted."

The government of Arunachal Pradesh, however, opposed the petition vehemently, terming it an abuse of legal processes. The government's counsel rejected the charges as politically motivated, saying that the state was doing everything to ensure transparency. The council also cited a CAG report that said Arunachal Pradesh's situation was exceptional and that the administration was working within its limitations.

The PIL particularly identified Rinchin Drema's company, Brand Eagles, as a significant gainer of these so-called contracts. The petition contended that the awarding of government contracts with substantial value to firms owned mostly by relatives and close friends of the chief minister creates apprehensions of favoritism and abuse of authority.

The petition also raised alarm bells about flood restoration contracts awarded by the state's Department of Relief and Rehabilitation. It specifically noted that the department had once been headed by late Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu before he died in 2011 when his son Pema Khandu took over. The petition contended that such firsthand family intervention in the awarding of government contracts was against the ideals of good governance and transparency.

The next hearing has been fixed by the Supreme Court in the week after July 21. The reports of the state government and concerned central ministries will have to be filed before the next review by the court on the case.

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