
New Delhi:Former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satyapal Malik shared a photo of himself on a hospital bed and said his condition was “very bad” on Thursday as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a chargesheet against him and five others in connection with alleged corruption in the award of Rs 2,200-crore civil works for Kiru hydropower project.
“Hello friends. I am receiving many calls from well-wishers, which I am unable to answer. My condition is very bad right now, and I am currently admitted to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi. I am not in a state to talk to anyone. Contact: KS Rana – +91 93105 33211,” Malik said in a post on X where he also shared the photo of himself lying on a hospital bed, his mouth open, eyes closed, and wires attached to his body, as he is partly clad in a blue hospital apron.
The CBI has submitted its findings after three years of probe before a special court, naming Malik and five others as accused. The agency had conducted searches at the premises of Malik and others in connection with the case in February last year.
In a statement after the registration of the FIR in 2022, the CBI had said the case pertained to the alleged malpractices in the award of the contract worth about Rs 2,200 crore of civil works of the Kiru Hydro Electric Power (HEP) Project to a private company in 2019.
Malik, who was the governor of Jammu and Kashmir from August 23, 2018, to October 30, 2019, had claimed that he was offered a Rs 300-crore bribe for clearing two files, including the one about the project. He had denied allegations of corruption against him after the agency conducted a search operation last year.
Malik said his residence was raided by the CBI instead of investigating the people he had complained about and who were involved in corruption. “They will not get anything except 4-5 kurtas and pyjamas.
The dictator is trying to scare me by misusing government agencies. I am a farmer’s son, I will neither be afraid nor bow down,” he had posted online.
The central agency has booked Navin Kumar Choudhary, the then chairman of the Chenab Valley Power Projects Private Limited (CVPPPL), and other officials, including M S Babu, M K Mittal and Arun Kumar Mishra, besides the construction firm Patel Engineering Limited.
“Though a decision was taken in the 47th board meeting of CVPPPL for re-tender through e-tendering with a reverse auction after the cancellation of the ongoing tendering process, the same was not implemented (according to the decision taken in the 48th board meeting) and the tender was finally awarded to Patel Engineering Limited,” the FIR has alleged.