The Supreme Court has given the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) two weeks to file a fresh status report in a case concerning allegations that government contracts in Arunachal Pradesh were awarded to family members of Chief Minister Pema Khandu.
A two-judge bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta heard the matter after earlier issuing notices to the Arunachal Pradesh chief secretary and home principal secretary over allegations that the state government had not cooperated fully with the CBI investigation.
The two senior officials appeared before the Supreme Court and submitted affidavits in response to the show-cause notices issued to them on August 3.
During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Arunachal Pradesh government, sought two weeks’ time to file a counter-affidavit. The state maintained that it had complied with the directions of the Supreme Court and had extended full cooperation to the CBI.
Advocate General of Arunachal Pradesh Indranil Choudhury also submitted that the state government had provided the investigating agency with all the information sought by it.
The allegations in the case relate to government contracts and works allegedly awarded to firms connected with members of Chief Minister Pema Khandu’s family.
Petitioner’s counsel Prashant Bhushan told the court that the scrutiny of documents should be limited to firms allegedly linked to the chief minister’s family instead of examining contracts awarded across the entire state.
The Supreme Court also tagged WPC No. 995/2026, filed by Nabam Kakum, with the main matter, MA 2216/2026 in WP(C) No. 543/2024. The petition raises similar allegations concerning contracts and works allegedly awarded to members of the chief minister’s family.
The court is scheduled to take up the matter again after four weeks.
The hearing comes amid continued attention on the case in Arunachal Pradesh. Earlier this month, Anil Srivastav resigned as the Additional Advocate General-cum-Standing Counsel for the state in the Supreme Court. His resignation came after Chief Minister Pema Khandu reportedly blamed the state’s standing counsel team for allegedly failing to appear before the Supreme Court in connection with the matter.
The Arunachal Pradesh government has since appointed advocates Durga Dutt and Rishi Awasthi as its standing counsel in the Supreme Court.
Monday’s hearing also drew attention from political circles, with several MLAs, ministers and party workers travelling to New Delhi in support of the chief minister amid reports of differences within the ruling BJP over the issue.
The case will now proceed after the CBI submits its fresh status report and the Arunachal Pradesh government files its counter-affidavit within the time granted by the Supreme Court.