CBI files charge sheet against former J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a charge sheet against former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik and five others in the Kiru Hydroelectric Power Project kickbacks case. In 2022, the Jammu and Kashmir government requested a CBI investigation into the alleged corruption in the allotment of a 2,200-crore-rupee contract for civil works in the Kiru Hydroelectric Power Project. 

In 2024, CBI carried out searches at eight locations in Delhi and Jammu. Other persons against whom a charge sheet has been filed include Navin Kumar Choudhary, the then chairman of Chenab Valley Power Projects, and other officials, MS Babu, MK



Mittal and Arun Kumar Mishra, besides construction firm Patel Engineering Limited. The FIR said an investigation had been conducted by the Jammu and Kashmir Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Power Department, and it was found that guidelines for e-tendering in the awarding of civil works in the project were not followed. 

Further, allegations of substandard work and failure to provide jobs to local youth have been made against the hydel project. The  Kiru hydroelectric power project is a run-of-the-river scheme being developed over the Chenab River in Kishtwar district in J&K.