The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday reached the residence of former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik in Delhi to seek clarifications on the alleged insurance scam in the Union Territory involving Reliance General Insurance, where he claimed he was offered bribes, reports PTI, citing officials.
The federal probe agency’s team arrived around 11.45 AM at the Som Vihar residence of Malik in the RK Puram area of the national capital.
The CBI registered two FIRs in connection with the corruption allegations levelled by Malik in the awarding of contracts for a group medical insurance scheme for government employees, and civil work worth Rs 2,200 crore related to the Kiru hydroelectric power project in Jammu and Kashmir.
Malik, who has served as a Governor in several states, had claimed he was offered a Rs 300-crore bribe for clearing two files during his tenure as the Jammu and Kashmir governor between August 23, 2018 and October 30, 2019.
In its FIR, the CBI had booked Reliance General Insurance and Trinity Re-Insurance Brokers Limited related to the health insurance scheme, which was reportedly cleared in the state administrative council meeting on April 31, 2018.
On April 21, the CBI had issued a legal notice to Malik, asking him to be present at the agency’s Akbar Road guesthouse in New Delhi for “certain clarifications”. Malik has not been named as an accused or a suspect in the case.
“The CBI wanted to seek some clarifications from me on an insurance scheme issue which I had cancelled during my term as Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. The insurance scheme for government employees had drawn criticism and protest from employees. The scheme for which Rs 8,500 had to be taken from employees (per employee per year) and Rs 20,000 from retired employees (per employee per year) was not rightly planned. It was a wrong move, so I cancelled it,” Malik had told The Indian Express.
The notice came barely a week after Malik’s interview to online media portal “The Wire”, where he made critical remarks against the BJP government, claiming that the Pulwama terror attack of February 2019 could have been averted had the Centre not turned down a request for aircraft to move the CRPF personnel.
After the latest CBI notice, Malik had tweeted, “I have exposed the sins of some people by speaking the truth. Maybe that’s why I have been called. I am the son of a farmer, I will not panic. I stand by the truth. #CBI.”
This is not the first time Malik has been quizzed by the CBI. Earlier, in October last year, his statement was recorded by the CBI after he concluded his gubernatorial responsibilities in Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Goa, and Meghalaya.