Late CM Pul: Two Former Topmost Legal Heads Took Rs 64 Cr Bribes

In his suicide note, Arunachal’s late CM Kalikho Pul said two ex-chief law officials accepted Rs 64 crore bribes.

Besides two serving highly-ranked law officials, Arunachal Pradesh’s late Chief Minister Kalikho Pul named in his suicide note two former topmost legal officials for accepting bribes in the crores in exchange for decisions in cases related to financial scandals in his state.

The full and unexcised version of Pul’s explosive suicide note, accessed by The Quint, reveals in disturbing detail that besides highly-placed political leaders, personalities in the highest echelons of India’s legal fraternity contacted him directly or via their relatives and associates to seek massive bribes from him to “turn” the case involving President’s Rule in Arunachal Pradesh in his favour.

Pul named a lawyer-son and the brother, respectively, of two highly-ranked, serving law officials. Knowledgeable sources disclosed to The Quint that one of three lawyer-sons of one of the senior-most law officials has been probed separately in connection with his alleged link with a Delhi-based advocate, who in October 2016 had filed an Income Tax return of Rs 125 crore.

Also Read: Late CM Kalikho Pul Blames Corrupt Law Officers in Suicide Note

Telephones Tapped

Following this, the telephone of the Delhi-based advocate who was subsequently arrested in December 2016 was placed under surveillance by a central probe agency. Tapped phone conversations led the probe agency to discover the name of the senior legal authority’s lawyer-son. Subsequent investigations led to the seizure of large volume of demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes from his South Delhi residence. But this seizure has been kept under wraps.

The brother of a senior law official met two of Pul’s associates in a Delhi Five Star hotel and pitched a bribe amount of Rs 37 crore. “The senior law official met Pul’s associates before leaving the hotel for his brother to strike the deal which finally did not come through because the former CM did not agree to pay that kind of money,” an official who subsequently met the two individuals known to Pul said. One of these associates contacted by The Quint corroborated the meeting at the hotel and the demand for a bribe by the senior law official’s brother.

Also Read: Shocked Law Fraternity Wants Arunachal Ex-CM’s Suicide Note Probed

‘Approaches’ to Kalikho Pul

Eight months after President’s Rule was imposed on the north-eastern state in January 2016, Pul hanged himself at his Itanagar residence. He took the ultimate step after he was frustrated and deeply shocked by the “approach for bribes” by well-ensconced legal officials, corruption in his own party and his failure to turn the political tide in his favour.

But Pul’s 60-page suicide note, carefully worded and neatly typed out in Hindi, with each page bearing his name and signature, goes back in time to name the then authority of India’s legal fraternity.

Bribe in PDS Scam Case

Pul wrote: “Arunachal rajya mein huye PDS ghotaley case ko rajya sarkar ne ghalat bataya, FCI ne ghalat bataya aur kendra sarkar ne bhi ghalat bataya, phir bhi Supreme Court ne aaropiyon ko khula chhodkar unka pura payment karne ka aadesh diya. Jisse rajya ka vikas kosh khali ho gaya (In the PDS scam in Arunachal state, the state government said it was wrong, the FCI said it was wrong and the central government also said it was wrong, but the Supreme Court acquitted the accused beneficiaries and ordered that they be repaid in full. As a result, the state’s development treasury was emptied”).

Pul continues: “Xxxxx Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxx Xxxxx ne 36 crore rupaye ki ghoos lekar ghalat faisla diya tha. Jisey unhonein apne bete ke zariye sumjhauta kiya. Jubki woh faisla galat tha (He took Rs 36 crore bribe to deliver a wrong judgement. He used his son to strike the deal. Whereas the decision was wrong”).

The late chief minister writes that “Arunachal rajya mein huye PDS scam… mein faisla contractaron ke hit mein diya tha. Jubki kendra sarkar aur FCI ne bhi is faisle ko galat thehraya tha (In Arunachal Pradesh’s PDS scam… a decision in favour of contractors. Whereas the central government and the FCI had held the judgement to be improper”).

Rs 28-Crore Payoff

In a last effort to expose corrupt Arunachal Pradesh ministers and some of his party colleagues, Pul claims: “Gauhati High Court ne Xxxx (senior minister) ke khilaaf ki gayi sunwayi mein Xxxx ko doshi theheraate huye CBI ki jaanch ke aadesh diye the. Lekin usi case mein…Xxxxxxx X X Xxxxx ko 28 crore rupaye ki ghoos dekar stay liya aur aaj bhi khule-aam ghoom rahein hain (In the hearing against Xxxx, the Gauhati High Court held Xxxx guilty and directed the CBI to investigate the case. But in that very case the Xxxxxxx X X Xxxxx was given a bribe of Rs 28 crore and a stay on it was obtained and today he is roaming about scot-free).”

Clues and Evidence

Pul then provides strong clues and evidence which he claims are in the records of the Gauhati High Court and the Supreme Court. “Food & Civil Supply ke Director X X Xxxx ke bank khaate se Xxxx ke khaate mein 30 lakh rupaye transfer kiye gaye. Iss baat ko Gauhati High Court ne bhi maana hai. Jiska record high court aur Supreme Court (ke) paas bhi hai,” Pul writes.

On Page 41 of the suicide note, Pul says: “Friends, whatever I have narrated in these pages is 100 percent true. I have said these things to my soul. I have neither exaggerated nor added mirch-masala to what I have put forth and nor have I tampered with facts.”

(This is the final and concluding part of The Quint’s expose on Arunachal Pradesh late Chief Minister Kalikho Pul's explosive suicide note . You can read the first part here.)