The Congress on Tuesday questioned why Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu had not been removed from office despite the Supreme Court ordering a CBI probe into allegations of corruption against him.
In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the continuation of Khandu in office amounted to a “gross travesty” of the Supreme Court’s order.
Ramesh said that on April 6, 2026, a three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court had directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to commence a preliminary inquiry into allegations that firms linked to the Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister’s family were awarded contracts worth Rs 1,270 crore over a 10-year period from January 2015 to December 2025, raising concerns of conflict of interest.
“This is not an order of a lower court or a High Court. It is of the Supreme Court. Yet the CM continues in office. He is also the PWD Minister and controls the files that the CBI will need to conduct its inquiry.
“Why is the man who once said ‘na khaoonga, na khaane doonga’ quiet and why has the Arunachal Pradesh CM not been asked to step down? This is a gross travesty of the Supreme Court’s verdict itself,” he said in his post.
“There are other BJP CMs as well who fall in the category of the Arunachal Pradesh CM,” Ramesh added.
On April 6, the Supreme Court directed the CBI to register a preliminary inquiry within two weeks into allegations of preferential allotment of public works contracts in Arunachal Pradesh to firms allegedly owned by or linked to family members of Khandu.
Observing that the State and its instrumentalities could not confer benefits according to the “whims of any political or administrative functionary”, the Bench, headed by Justice Vikram Nath, said the matter warranted an “independent investigation”.
The court noted that in cases concerning the integrity of public procurement and allegations of conflict of interest at the highest levels, an investigation “must not only be fair but also must appear fair”.
(With inputs from PTI)
