Show-cause officers appear; Supreme Court asks CBI to read the Arunachal papers and file a fresh PE report.

A Supreme Court bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta on Monday, 24 August 2026, continued monitoring the Central Bureau of Investigation preliminary enquiry into alleged irregularities in the award of Arunachal Pradesh public-works contracts and tenders to firms allegedly linked to family members of Chief Minister Pema Khandu. The matters are Save Mon Region Federation and another versus the State of Arunachal Pradesh, miscellaneous application 2216 of 2026 in writ petition (civil) 54 of 2024, with Nabam Kakum versus the State of Arunachal Pradesh, writ petition (civil) 995 of 2026. A monitoring order is case management. It is not a finding that the Chief Minister’s family took contracts.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for the State. The Chief Secretary and the Principal Secretary (Home), summoned after the 3 August 2026 show-cause on alleged non-cooperation with the Central Bureau of Investigation, were present. Affidavits explaining the show-cause were filed. Remaining reply, if any, is to come within two weeks. Personal appearance of the two officers is not required henceforth unless specifically directed. A show-cause appearance that ends with a further-reply window is not a clearance of the preliminary enquiry.

The State told the court it had complied and supplied records. One public account says counsel for the State said 17 trunks of documents had been handed to the Central Bureau of Investigation; the court asked the agency to confirm whether it had received the entire material. Another public account of the order notes that the bench observed the State had apparently supplied documents relating to all contracts, not only those allegedly awarded to family-linked firms, and that such volume could delay the preliminary enquiry. This desk records both the 17-trunk figure as counsel’s statement and the bench’s width warning. It will not invent a page count or an agency receipt the tip does not lock.

On a request of advocate Prashant Bhushan, the Central Bureau of Investigation was directed to file a fresh status report on the next date after the State’s response and documents are on record. The matters are listed after four weeks. Notice was issued on the connected Nabam Kakum petition. A direction to file a fresh status report is not a finding on the contracts.

An April 6, 2026 judgment had directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to register a preliminary enquiry covering award and execution of public works from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2025. One public account, recalling earlier record, says government contracts and work orders worth around ₹1,270 crore were said to have been awarded over ten years to four firms allegedly related to Khandu family members. That ₹1,270 crore figure is from the earlier court record. It is not a new 24 August finding by this bench.

New Delhi holds the Supreme Court hearing. Arunachal Pradesh holds the contract geography. Form B and any poll date are not notified. This desk will not invent a chargesheet, a family-firm list, or a next calendar date beyond “after four weeks.”

Until the fresh status report is filed and tested, the public ledger is a Monday appearance of the Chief Secretary and the Principal Secretary (Home) after a 3 August show-cause, affidavits on record, two weeks for any remaining reply, personal appearance dispensed with unless directed, a 17-trunk document dump cited by State counsel, a bench warning that papers on all contracts may delay the preliminary enquiry, a direction to the Central Bureau of Investigation to file a fresh status report after four weeks, notice on the Nabam Kakum petition, a preliminary-enquiry window from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2025, and an earlier-record figure of around ₹1,270 crore to four alleged family-linked firms. Every contract link remains allegation under a monitored preliminary enquiry.