The CBI has issued a summons to former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik to seek "clarifications" in connection with an alleged health insurance scam in the Union territory.
The disclosure came on a day the Narendra Modi government marked a week of silence since Malik gave an interview to journalist Karan Thapar that raised several grave questions about the Pulwama terror attack and the Prime Minister's purported response on the same evening.
CBI sources said Malik had been summoned for questioning as a witness in the case.
Malik tweeted in Hindi: "I have exposed the sins of some people by speaking the truth. Maybe that's why the call has come. I am the son of a farmer; I will not panic. I stand by the truth."
Malik had earlier told PTI that the CBI had sought his presence at the agency’s Akbar Road guesthouse for “certain clarifications”.
“They want certain clarifications for which they want my presence. I am going to Rajasthan, so I have given them dates from April 27 to 29 when I am available,” PTI quoted Malik as saying.
In the interview with The Wire news portal on April 14, Malik had said that when he had, as the then Jammu and Kashmir governor, blamed the 2019 Pulwama massacre on the Centre’s own lapses, Prime Minister Modi had told him “tum abhi chup raho”.
Sources in the CBI said on Friday that Malik had earlier (November 2021) alleged that he had been offered a bribe of Rs 300 crore to clear two files when he was Jammu and Kashmir governor. He had named an RSS leader.
“Malik has been issued summons to appear before the agency and give clarification in connection with his claim that he was offered a Rs 300-crore bribe to clear two files during his stint as governor in J&K between August 23, 2018, and October 30, 2019,” a CBI official said.
“In April last year, we registered two FIRs over corruption allegations levelled by Malik. In the first FIR, we booked Anil Ambani’s Reliance General Insurance Company Ltd and Trinity Reinsurance Brokers Limited over the alleged scam in the awarding of contracts for a group medical insurance scheme for government employees,” the CBI official said.
Malik had cancelled the deal in October 2018, the official said, adding that the agency had registered another FIR on corruption allegations in civil projects worth Rs 2,200 crore related to the Kiru Hydel Power Project in Jammu and Kashmir.
In October last year, the CBI had examined Malik in connection with the two alleged cases of corruption.
The Congress on Friday linked the CBI summons to Malik for his comments on Modi.
“At last, PM Modi could not help it. Satya Pal Malik ji exposed him in front of the country. Now the CBI has called Malik ji. This had to happen,” the Congress said in a tweet.
Neither the PMO nor any other government wing has responded to Malik's claims in the interview till now.
