The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a chargesheet against former Jammu & Kashmir Governor Satyapal Malik and five others in a ₹2200 crore corruption case linked to the Kiru Hydro Electric Project. The chargesheet, submitted after a three-year investigation, was presented before a special court on Thursday. The case was registered in April 2022 following a request from the J&K government. Malik served as the state’s Governor from August 2018 to October 2019.
Following the chargesheet, Malik posted on X (formerly Twitter) that he is currently hospitalised and not in a condition to speak, despite receiving numerous calls from well-wishers.
Earlier, Malik had claimed he was offered a bribe of ₹300 crore to clear two project-related files, including one linked to this very project. He publicly rejected the allegations against him after CBI searches at his residence in 2023, stating, “I filed the complaint, and yet my house was raided. They won’t find anything but a few kurtas and pyjamas.”
He further accused the government of misusing agencies to intimidate him and said, “I am a farmer’s son—I will neither be afraid nor bow down.”
The CBI chargesheet also names former CVPPPL officials including Chairman Navin Kumar Choudhary, M S Babu, M K Mittal, Arun Kumar Mishra, and representatives of Patel Engineering Ltd., the project’s construction contractor.
