Why is Arunachal CM still in office, asks Congress after SC orders CBI probe

The Congress on Tuesday questioned why Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu

has not been removed even after the Supreme Court directed the CBI to begin a probe into charges of corruption against him. In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said this amounts to "gross travesty" of the Supreme Court order itself. Ramesh said it was on April 6, 2026, that a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court directed the CBI to commence a preliminary inquiry into allegations that the Arunachal Pradesh chief minister's family was awarded contracts worth Rs 1,270 crore over 10 years from January 2015 to December 2025 in a direct 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. The Supreme Court on April 6 directed the CBI to register within two weeks a preliminary inquiry into allegations of preferential allotment of contracts for public work in Arunachal Pradesh to firms allegedly owned or related to the family members of Chief Minister Khandu. Observing that the State and its instrumentalities cannot confer benefits according to the "whims of any political or administrative functionary", the apex court said it was a fit case where an "independent investigation" was necessary. The bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath said where a case concerns the integrity of public procurement and involves allegations of conflict of interest at the highest levels, an investigation must not only be fair but also must appear fair.