The Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday filed a chargesheet naming Jammu and Kashmir’s former Governor Satya Pal Malik and six others in connection with alleged corruption in the awarding of a contract for the Kiru Hydropower project, reported The Indian Express, quoting unidentified officials.

The case pertains to alleged corruption to the tune of Rs 2,200 crore in the civil works of the hydropower project.

Apart from Malik, those who have been named in the chargesheet are MS Babu, who was the managing director of Chenab Valley Power Project when the award for the hydropower project was given, and board directors MK Mittal and Arun Kumar Mishra.

Rupen Patel, the managing director of Patel Engineering Limited, who has since died, Virender Rana, Kanwar Singh Rana and Kanwaljeet Singh Duggal have also been named in the chargesheet, The Hindu reported, quoting unidentified officials.

In February 2024, the central agency had raided three premises linked to Malik in connection with the case.

Following the raids, Malik said that government agencies were being misused to intimidate him. He said that the searches at his premises took place despite him being admitted to a hospital. He claimed that his driver and assistant were also being “harassed”.

After the chargesheet was filed on Thursday, Malik said he was admitted to Delhi’s Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, where he is being treated for a urinary infection and sepsis, and is also undergoing dialysis.

In a social media post, he said he was unable to respond to calls from well-wishers as he was “not in a condition to talk”. He also posted a photo of himself lying on a hospital bed.

In October 2021, Malik, who served as the governor of Jammu and Kashmir between August 2018 and October 2019, claimed that he was told he would get a Rs 300 crore bribe if he cleared two files, including one related to the hydropower project. Another file was related to a health insurance policy for government employees, journalists and pensioners in Jammu and Kashmir.

The former governor said that he had cancelled both the deals. He said he had informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the matter. “I straightaway told him [Modi] that I am ready to leave the post but if I stay back, I am not going to clear the files,” Malik said.

However, in April 2023, Malik was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation in a case of alleged corruption in the health insurance policy.

He was summoned by the agency days after he claimed in an interview to The Wire that Modi told him not to speak about lapses that led to the Pulwama attack in 2019.

On February 14, 2019, an explosive-laden car driven by a suicide bomber rammed into a bus carrying Central Reserve Police Force personnel, killing 40 of them in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district. Pakistani terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed had claimed responsibility for the attack.

In the interview, Malik claimed that the attack took place due to the incompetence and negligence of the Central Reserve Police Force and the Union Home Ministry headed by Rajnath Singh at that time. The Central Reserve Police Force reports to the Union Home Ministry.

He also stated that the prime minister “does not hate corruption much”.

He claimed that he was removed as the governor of Goa in August 2020 and sent to Meghalaya after he raised several instances of corruption with the prime minister. Malik served as the governor of Goa from November 2019 to August 2020.

Malik also alleged that the persons around the prime minister are involved in corruption and often use his office’s name.

A month later, he had claimed that the 2019 Lok Sabha elections were “fought on the bodies of our soldiers”, referring to the Pulwama attacks.

Also read: On the Pulwama terror attack, India deserves answers – and the truth