New Delhi, Oct. 31 -- The Union government has told the Supreme Court that it cannot look into the allegations of corruption and nepotism against Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu in award of contracts to his family members. The government said that the Code of Conduct for Ministers that governs Khandu falls within the state's domain and the Union finance ministry's public procurement rules are not binding on the states, the Centre said in an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court. The affidavit was filed as the top court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) by two non-profit organisations which have demanded a probe into allegations against Khandu for awarding public contracts to his family members. The petitioners said that the CM not only violated the Code of Conduct binding on all state and Central ministers issued by the ministry of home affairs (MHA), but also failed to honour the procurement rules of the Union finance ministry. The court is slated to hear the matter next week. Last month, the top court had granted three weeks to the Centre to file its response after the Union government failed to do so despite a court order on March 18. The PIL was filed by two NGOs - Save Mon Region Foundation and Voluntary Arunachal Sena. The petition accused Pema Khandu, his father's second wife Rinchin Drema, and his nephew Tsering Tashi, as beneficiaries of the contracts. The Centre said that the Code of Conduct certainly binds all ministers of states and centre. It referred to an office memorandum of MHA issued on September 18, 2025, that held Clause 2(d) of Code of Conduct for Ministers applies to ministers of both Union and states. The Centre's affidavit said, "The MHA does not have any further role whatsoever in the matter. In fact, the issues flagged in the writ petition fall within the domain of the state government."...