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The Hindu
05-08-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Satya Pal Malik: A Governor who fought for his principles
Satya Pal Malik, the last governor of Jammu & Kashmir, who became a trenchant critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the 2021 farmer agitation, passed away in Delhi on Tuesday (August 5, 2025), the sixth anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370. The seasoned grass roots politician from western Uttar Pradesh, who weathered many a political storm spanning over five decades, was ailing from kidney issues for a long time and was admitted to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in May this year, hours after the CBI filed a chargesheet against him and five others in ₹2,200 crore Kiru Hydropower project case on alleged corruption charges. Mr. Malik, 79, had strongly denied the charges and called them politically motivated. In a social media post on June 7, he reiterated that he was being targeted because he supported the farmers' movement and women wrestlers' agitation against sexual harassment. Earlier, in media interviews, he accused the government of engaging in a witch hunt, claiming that he had informed the top leadership that he had been offered a bribe twice during his tenure as the Jammu and Kashmir Governor and had been praised for his honesty. Following the abrogation of Article 370, which reduced the status of Jammu and Kashmir to a Union Territory, Mr. Malik was transferred to Goa and subsequently to Meghalaya. Not one to hold back his punches, Mr. Malik was the only politician who openly spoke against the Modi government while holding a Constitutional post. After demitting the office, Mr. Malik created a stir when he alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had shut him up when he blamed the Centre's lapses for the deaths in the Pulwama attack in 2019, and highlighted the Union Home Ministry's refusal of an aircraft that had forced the convoy to travel by road. Recently, he raised questions about PM Modi's handling of the Pahalgam attack. However, he remained neutral on Article 370 throughout and said he signed on the dotted line set by the Centre. Born in Baghpat in western Uttar Pradesh in 1946 in a farmer's family, Mr. Malik lost his father early. A law graduate with a keen interest in poetry and history, he started his career in agrarian politics at Meerut University. Known for holding an independent view on farmer issues, even if it meant going against the party line, he was discovered by Chaudhary Charan Singh and won his first Assembly election from the Baghpat seat in 1974 on a Bharatiya Kranti Dal ticket. In 1980, he switched to the Congress and made his entry into the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh. When the Bofors agitation gathered traction, he joined hands with the Janata Dal, winning the Aligarh Lok Sabha seat in 1989 and becoming a Minister in the V.P. Singh government. Aligarh was Mr. Malik's last victory at the hustings and subsequently faced a long electoral drought. Staring into a political wilderness, after spending some time in the Samajwadi Party, he made an ideological shift in 2004. He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and contested the Lok Sabha election against his mentor Chaudhary Charan Singh's son, Ajit Singh, from Baghpat. Despite electoral setbacks, he remained loyal to the BJP, and the party rewarded his patience by appointing him national vice-president in 2012. He was the prominent Jat face of the party in the aftermath of the Muzaffarnagar riots, who worked with then-party president Amit Shah to revive the party's fortunes in the sugarcane belt. In 2017, he was nominated as the Governor of Bihar. A year later, he was appointed the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, followed by stints in Goa and Meghalaya. By 2021, Mr. Malik, who had once been a strong votary of Mr. Modi's leadership during his tenure as Chief Minister of Gujarat, again demonstrated that he is a born rebel. Interestingly, while he attacked Mr. Modi, Mr. Malik never burned his bridges with Mr. Shah. His detractors viewed him as an opportunist who abandoned the party when he was superseded by another Jat/farmer Governor, Jagdeep Dhankhar, in the race for the Vice-President's chair. However, Mr. Malik maintained that it was a fight for his principles and the interests of farmers until the end.
Scroll.in
23-05-2025
- Health
- Scroll.in
CBI files chargesheet against Satya Pal Malik, six others in Kiru hydropower corruption case
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday filed a chargesheet naming Jammu and Kashmir's former Governor Satya Pal Malik and six others in connection with alleged corruption in the awarding of a contract for the Kiru Hydropower project, reported The Indian Express, quoting unidentified officials. The case pertains to alleged corruption to the tune of Rs 2,200 crore in the civil works of the hydropower project. Apart from Malik, those who have been named in the chargesheet are MS Babu, who was the managing director of Chenab Valley Power Project when the award for the hydropower project was given, and board directors MK Mittal and Arun Kumar Mishra. Rupen Patel, the managing director of Patel Engineering Limited, who has since died, Virender Rana, Kanwar Singh Rana and Kanwaljeet Singh Duggal have also been named in the chargesheet, The Hindu reported, quoting unidentified officials. In February 2024, the central agency had raided three premises linked to Malik in connection with the case. Following the raids, Malik said that government agencies were being misused to intimidate him. He said that the searches at his premises took place despite him being admitted to a hospital. He claimed that his driver and assistant were also being 'harassed'. After the chargesheet was filed on Thursday, Malik said he was admitted to Delhi's Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, where he is being treated for a urinary infection and sepsis, and is also undergoing dialysis. In a social media post, he said he was unable to respond to calls from well-wishers as he was 'not in a condition to talk'. He also posted a photo of himself lying on a hospital bed. In October 2021, Malik, who served as the governor of Jammu and Kashmir between August 2018 and October 2019, claimed that he was told he would get a Rs 300 crore bribe if he cleared two files, including one related to the hydropower project. Another file was related to a health insurance policy for government employees, journalists and pensioners in Jammu and Kashmir. The former governor said that he had cancelled both the deals. He said he had informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the matter. 'I straightaway told him [Modi] that I am ready to leave the post but if I stay back, I am not going to clear the files,' Malik said. However, in April 2023, Malik was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation in a case of alleged corruption in the health insurance policy. He was summoned by the agency days after he claimed in an interview to The Wire that Modi told him not to speak about lapses that led to the Pulwama attack in 2019. On February 14, 2019, an explosive-laden car driven by a suicide bomber rammed into a bus carrying Central Reserve Police Force personnel, killing 40 of them in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district. Pakistani terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed had claimed responsibility for the attack. In the interview, Malik claimed that the attack took place due to the incompetence and negligence of the Central Reserve Police Force and the Union Home Ministry headed by Rajnath Singh at that time. The Central Reserve Police Force reports to the Union Home Ministry. He also stated that the prime minister 'does not hate corruption much'. He claimed that he was removed as the governor of Goa in August 2020 and sent to Meghalaya after he raised several instances of corruption with the prime minister. Malik served as the governor of Goa from November 2019 to August 2020. Malik also alleged that the persons around the prime minister are involved in corruption and often use his office's name. A month later, he had claimed that the 2019 Lok Sabha elections were 'fought on the bodies of our soldiers', referring to the Pulwama attacks.
