Centre is trying to frame me: former J&K Governor

Former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Satyapal Malik, said he “worked with honesty” and his “integrity could never be shaken”. File | Photo Credit: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap

Former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satyapal Malik said on Saturday (June 7, 2025) that the Centre is trying to frame him in false chargesheets by threatening him with cases filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

In a post on X in Hindi, Mr. Malik said, “The tender they want to implicate me in was one I personally cancelled. I had informed the Prime Minister about the corruption in that matter, and after informing him, I cancelled that tender myself. After my transfer, that tender was approved with someone else’s signature.”

Mr. Malik said he is admitted in the Intensive Unit Care (ICU) of a hospital for kidney-related ailment.

“My condition is becoming very serious. Whether I survive or not, I want to tell the truth to my fellow countrymen — When I was Governor, I was offered bribes of ₹150 to ₹150 crore, but like my political mentor, the late farmer leader Chaudhary Charan Singh, I worked with honesty, and my integrity could never be shaken,” he said.

The case in which Mr. Malik has been chargesheeted involves the awarding of ₹2,200 crore worth of civil works for the Kiru Hydroelectric Project. Registered by the CBI in April 2022 on a reference from the Jammu and Kashmir government, the FIR alleged Chenab Valley Power Project (P) Limited (CVPPPL), at its 47th board meeting, had decided to cancel the then ongoing tendering process and re-tender for the works through e-tenders with reverse auction. The FIR alleged that the very next board meeting of the CCVPPL saw this decision reversed, leading to the contract being awarded to Patel Engineering in 2019.

In the chargesheet filed in the case by the CBI last month, besides Mr. Malik, who was the Governor of J&K from August 23, 2018, to October 30, 2019, seven others had been chargesheeted. This included the then MD of CVPPL, M.S. Babu, and directors M.K. Mittal and Arun Kumar Mishra. Others charged are then Managing Director of Patel Engineering Limited, Rupen Patel (deceased), along with Virender Rana, Kanwar Singh Rana, and Kanwaljeet Singh Duggal.

“The government has put all its strength into defaming me. In the end, my request to the government and its agencies is to please tell the truth to the beloved people of my country — what did you find against me in your investigations? The truth, however, is that after serving the nation in very high positions for over 50 years in my political life, I still live in a single-room house and am in debt. If I had wealth today, I would be getting treatment in a private hospital,” he said.

Published - June 07, 2025 11:04 pm IST