As part of a public interest lawsuit, the Supreme Court ordered on March 20 that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) look into allegations...........
Digital desk: The Supreme Court ordered on March 20 that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) investigate suspicions of corruption in connection with specific tenders that the government of Arunachal Pradesh floated ten years before, as part of a public interest litigation.
As part of a public interest lawsuit, the Supreme Court ordered on March 20 that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) look into allegations of corruption over particular tenders that the Arunachal Pradesh government had issued ten years prior.
In 2010, the petitioner, an NGO, filed a petition against a Gauhati High Court ruling. Significantly, respondents in this matter in their capacities are Dorjee Khandu, the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh from 2007 to 2011, and Pema Khandu, the current Chief Minister, who is the son of Dorjee Khandu.
The time between the date of the claimed occurrence and the hearing date was one of the concerns that had initially worried the Bench. In this context, Advocate Prashant Bhushan attempted to convince the court that there was apparent corruption in this case because contracts were given to the chief minister's relatives without a call for bids.
However, the State of Arunachal Pradesh contended that both the former Chief Minister (Dorjee Khandu) and the contract beneficiary had passed away. The SLP has so softened her stance against him.
The Court asked the CAG to respond in October 2023 on two points: Is it possible for very close relatives of the state's executive head to receive government contracts? If the answer is yes, what standards would be followed while giving such people contracts? The CAG has now been instructed to review and look into the claims.
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