Goa Governor Satya Pal Malik has said that he witnessed the abuse of democracy when he was serving as the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, adding that some leaders from the newly formed Union Territory will surely go behind the bars for indulging in corrupt practices. “I have witnessed the abuse of democracy. But the cure is also in democracy. Investigations are underway against them, some of them will go to prison,” Malik said while addressing a gathering on the occasion of Constitution Day celebrations at the Goa University grounds here on Tuesday. He said that democratically elected leaders in Jammu and Kashmir, whose grandparents were school teachers, own houses in Srinagar, Delhi, Dubai, London, and France now. “When I was appointed as the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, I went to see the Prime Minister. I asked him, what my mandate was. He told me to reach out, meet the people, focus on development and fight against corruption,” Malik said. “I went there and it came to my knowledge that the ruling party was trying to divest around Rs 150 crore from government deals, so I cancelled those deals,” he added. Malik, who served as the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir from August 2018 to October 2019, said that he also stumbled upon a job scam in a bank and cracked down on it. “One day, I was sitting at Raj Bhavan in the evening, someone said 15-20 boys and girls had come to see me. They informed me that they had passed the exams and cleared the interviews but others were given appointment letters,” he said. The Governor called the bank, which informed him that the decision was taken under pressure from the government. “The bank chairman told me that there were 580 candidates who had cleared the exams and interviews. However, the Chief Minister had told the MLAs to recommend their people and they will be hired,” Malik said. He said those in power often misuse them but they can be dealt with. “After all Lalu ji and Om Prakash Chautala went to prison,” Malik added.
