Supreme Court ordered the Arunachal Pradesh government to submit a complete statewide list of all public works contracts from 2015–2025 amid allegations involving firms linked to CM Pema Khandu’s family. The Court said the current “statistics are telling” and warned the State against withholding information.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday told the Arunachal Pradesh government to submit a full and detailed affidavit on every public works contract given out in the state between 2015 and 2025.
The Court gave this direction after serious questions were raised about contracts allegedly awarded to companies owned by the family members of Chief Minister Pema Khandu. The bench said the figures placed before it were “telling.”
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta passed the order while hearing a petition asking for a CBI investigation into suspected corruption and conflict of interest in government tenders.
During the hearing, the judges made strong remarks about how the tenders were awarded. They noted that the difference in prices quoted by different bidders was extremely small.
Referring to this unusual pattern, the bench said,
“The coincidence is absolutely remarkable.”
The judges then added that if such tiny margins existed, it suggested
“cartelisation.”
They further observed,
“If that is so, that becomes serious,”
and commented that the available data was “telling.”
At one point, the Court compared the situation to old corruption scandals and asked the petitioners whether this looked like the
“Bihar Chara Ghotala (Bihar fodder scam).”
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, for the petitioners, replied,
“In a way.”
A major issue discussed in court was how much data the State had shared. The counsel for Arunachal Pradesh argued that the case was limited to the Tawang district and that is why the affidavit only had data from Tawang. But the Supreme Court rejected this argument.
The bench said,
“We do not find any such confinement or limitation of the petition being confined to district Tawang or the order passed by this court earlier limited it to district Tawang.”
The Court also expressed doubt about why the State was not giving full statewide information.
The bench remarked,
“We may rather think on a line that you are trying to conceal something.”
Prashant Bhushan highlighted from the State’s own affidavit that 31 contracts worth ₹188 crore and work orders worth ₹2.61 crore were given to companies owned by the Chief Minister’s close family. Pointing to the State’s justification, Bhushan said,
“… They (state) say that we want to give the contracts to companies which are trusted by the local people and the companies trusted by the local people are the companies of the Chief Minister, his wife etc. because he comes from that area.”
The petitioners also recalled earlier incidents where the State allegedly paid for transporting rice by “head load” even in areas where motorable roads existed. They argued that using trucks would have cost much less.
The Supreme Court has now given the State eight weeks to file a fresh, complete affidavit. The Court said the new affidavit must include data from all districts of Arunachal Pradesh, not only Tawang; it must cover contracts from 2015–2025; and it must clearly mention whether contracts were given to companies linked to the Chief Minister or his immediate family.
The bench clarified that it has not yet decided to order a probe. It first wants full information to decide if an investigation is needed. The case will now be heard again on February 3.
The PIL has named Chief Minister Pema Khandu, his father’s second wife Rinchin Drema, and his nephew Tsering Tashi.
It alleges that Brand Eagles, a company owned by Drema, received several government contracts despite clear conflict of interest. Pema Khandu’s father, Dorjee Khandu, had served as Chief Minister from 2007 until his death in 2011.
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