Jammu and Kashmir’s former Governor Satyapal Malik died on Tuesday at the age of 79.

He was admitted to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi and was undergoing treatment for kidney-related ailments.

The 79-year-old served as the last governor of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir between August 2018 and October 2019.

He was the governor of Goa between November 2019 and August 2020, before serving in Meghalaya from August 2020 to October 2022.

He had also been the governor of Bihar between September 2017 and August 2018, and held the additional charge of Odisha from March 2018 to May 2018.

Malik was an MP in the 1980s, and switched parties including the Congress, the Janata Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party. He also served as the Union minister of state for parliamentary affairs and tourism in 1990.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he was saddened by the passing away of Malik. “My thoughts are with his family and supporters in this hour of grief,” Modi said on social media.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi expressed his condolences. “I will always remember him as a person who, until his last moment, fearlessly spoke the truth and advocated for the interests of the people,” Gandhi said on social media.

Malik’s allegations

In May, the Central Bureau of Investigation had filed a chargesheet naming Malik and six others in a corruption case linked to the awarding of civil work contracts for the Rs 2,200-crore Kiru Hydropower Project in Jammu and Kashmir.

The case was filed months after the agency raided three premises linked to Malik in February.

Following the raids, Malik had accused the Union government of misusing investigative agencies to intimidate him, saying the searches were carried out even as he was in hospital.

He also alleged that his driver and assistant had been harassed.

In October 2021, Malik claimed that he was offered a Rs 300 crore bribe when he was the governor of Jammu and Kashmir for clearing 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 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 had said.

In April 2023, Malik was questioned by the CBI 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 the alleged security lapses that led to the Pulwama terror 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 also alleged that the persons around the prime minister were involved in corruption and often used 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.