‘PM told me there can be no compromise on corruption’
JAMMU, Oct 21: Former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir and current Governor of Meghalaya Satya Pal Malik has said that Prime Minister Narendra had told him categorically that there can be no compromise on corruption in J&K after which he had cancelled deals worth crores involving Ambani and a senior RSS functionary in which he was offered Rs 300 crore as bribe.
These and more sensational revelations have been made by Malik in an address during a function at Jat Foundation Society Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan.
He also described three former Chief Ministers including Dr Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti as beneficiaries of Roshni Scheme. Mehbooba, however, immediately reacted and threatened to sue Malik in the court of law if he doesn’t withdraw remarks against her.
“Two files came before me in Jammu and Kashmir. One of them pertained to Ambani and another to a senior RSS functionary. A former Minister of Mehbooba Mufti Government was also involved. The deals were fraud. One of the Secretaries told me that you can get Rs 150 crore each in the two deals. I rejected the offer saying I have come with five `kurtas and will go with them only,” Malik, who was Governor of Jammu and Kashmir when special status of erstwhile State was abrogated and it was bifurcated into two Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh on August 5, 2019, said adding he cancelled the deals.
He said he then approached Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and briefed him about the “fraud deals” and that some of them were using his name as well.
“The Prime Minister clearly told me that there can be no compromise on corruption,” Malik said, adding he was categoric that he won’t allow such deals till he stays in Jammu and Kashmir or else he will quit.
Claiming that 4-5 percent commission is taken in the country, he said rate of commission was fixed as 15 percent in Kashmir. However, he asserted that no major scam or corruption took place in Jammu and Kashmir during his tenure as the Governor.
Malik described National Conference leaders and former Chief Ministers Dr Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, also a former Chief Minister, as beneficiaries of Roshni Scheme and lauded a female Judge for handing over probe to the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI).
He said he called the three Lieutenant Generals of Jammu and Kashmir and handed over the land for Army purposes and rest for construction of Police Quarters (to save it from encroachments).
“I have no house of my own to live after retirement. I’ve been living in one-and-a-half-room house,” the former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir and present Governor of Meghalaya said.
He added it was because of his clean record that he was openly supporting the cause of farmers as otherwise the Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax Department would have been raiding his house.
Meanwhile, in Srinagar PDP president Mehbooba Mufti asked Malik to withdraw his purported comments that was a beneficiary of now-abandoned Roshni scheme, failing which legal action will be taken against him.
“False & unsavoury utterances of Satya Pal Malik about me being a beneficiary of Roshni Act is highly mischievous. My legal team is preparing to sue him. He has the option to withdraw his comments, failing which I will pursue legal recourse,” Mehbooba said in a tweet.