CBI books Anil Ambani's Reliance, unknown officials on graft charges by Satya Pal Malik

New Delhi: The CBI has registered two FIRs in connection with corruption allegations levelled by former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal 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 Kiru hydroelectric power project in the erstwhile state, officials said on Thursday.

The CBI, after registering the FIRs, carried out searches on Thursday morning at 14 locations in Jammu, Srinagar, Delhi, Mumbai, Noida in Uttar Pradesh, Trivandrum in Kerala and Darbhanga in Bihar, they said. The CBI has named Reliance General Insurance and Trinity Re-Insurance Brokers Limited as accused in its FIR related to a controversial health insurance scheme for Jammu and Kashmir government employees reportedly cleared by Malik in the state administrative council meeting on August 31, 2018.

"...unknown officials of Finance Department of Government of Jammu and Kashmir by abusing their official position in conspiracy and connivance with Trinity Reinsurance Brokers Ltd, Reliance General Insurance Company Ltd and other unknown public servants and private persons have committed the offences of criminal conspiracy and criminal misconduct to cause pecuniary advantage to themselves and caused wrongful loss to state exchequer during the period 2017 and 2018 and thereby in this manner cheated the Government of Jammu and Kashmir," the FIR alleged.

It was alleged in different quarters that there were glaring deviations from the government norms in the contract awarded to Reliance General Insurance like absence of an online tender, removal of an original condition that the vendor should have experience of working in the state and cos having turnover of Rs 5,000 cr among others.