CBI Charges Former J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik in ₹2,200 Crore Kiru Hydropower Corruption Case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has charged former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik and five others in the Kiru hydropower corruption case, the PTI reported on Thursday, citing officials.

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In 2024, the CBI had raided eight locations in Delhi and Jammu while probing for alleged corruption in civil contracts worth Rs 2,200 crore for the Kiru Hydro Electric Power Project.

This investigation was requested by the Jammu and Kashmir government in 2022, asking the CBI to investigate possible violations of the law in the awarding of two contracts. Concerns about flaws in the awarding of the two major contracts had been raised by Satya Pal Malik, who was the governor of J&K from August 23, 2018, through October 30, 2019. In public, Malik claimed that the central government was offering him a bribe of Rs 300 crore in exchange for his approval of two files, one of which was related to the Kiru project.

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Last year, when the CBI searched his home, Malik pleaded that all accusations of corruption were untrue. He further stated that instead of investigating those he had accused of corruption, they conducted a search of his home. “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 posted online. 

The CBI has charged Navin Kumar Choudhary, the then chairman of Chenab Valley Power Projects Private Limited (CVPPPL), officers M S Babu, M K Mittal, and Arun Kumar Mishra, and Patel Engineering Limited, with disregard to awarding the contract after the 47th board meeting simply changing the decision for a re-tender proposal to next board meeting.

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