RTI appeal for Satyapal Malik’s letter to Modi on corruption in Goa rejected

The Goa State Chief Information Commissioner has dismissed two appeals filed over the failure of Goa Raj Bhavan to furnish the information sought under the RTI Act. On October 11, 2021, applicant advocate Aires Rodrigues sought from Goa Raj Bhavan copies of all the official letters written by then Governor Satya Pal Malik to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah during his tenure in Goa.

However, Public Information Officer (PIO) Gaurish Shankhwalkar informed Rodrigues that letters written by the former governor Malik to the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister were only available after being looked for. Malik was the governor of Goa from November 3, 2019, to August 18, 2020.

Advocate Rodrigues on Tuesday said that he would challenge before the High Court the judgement of the Goa State Chief Information Commissioner (GSCIC) Vishwas Satarkar, dismissing the two appeals filed by him over the failure of Goa Raj Bhavan to furnish the information sought under the RTI Act.

Stating that the GSCIC’s order will be challenged to ensure that the rule of law prevails, advocate Rodrigues said that the Raj Bhavan had denied information with erroneous, frivolous, and unwarranted intentions. “In contrast, the non-furnishing of information was illegal, untenable and with suspect motives. While failing to furnish the information sought, the Raj Bhavan had high-handedly taken shelter under unacceptable reasons in rank contravention of the RTI Act,” he said.

In another application, advocate Rodrigues had sought a copy of all the official letters received by the Goa Governor from the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister from November 3, 2019, to August 18, 2020, which also pertained to the period when Satya Pal Malik was Governor of Goa.

PIO Gaurish Shankhwalkar, in his reply to advocate Rodrigues stated that the official letters from Prime Minister and Union Home Minister were all received in closed sealed envelopes and were handed over to Governor’s Personal Secretary and that he does not know about the contents of those letters and that they are not part of the records and files of his office and as such the information sought was not available with him.

PIO Gaurish Shankhwalkar, in his reply to advocate Rodrigues stated that the official letters from Prime Minister and Union Home Minister were all received in closed sealed envelopes and were handed over to Governor’s Personal Secretary and that he does not know about the contents of those letters and that they are not part of the records and files of his office and as such the information sought was not available with him.

Advocate Rodrigues, however, had pointed to the GSCIC that an inspection of the inward and outward registers of the Raj Bhavan revealed that there were letters written by then Governor Satya Pal Malik to the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister and letters received by the Governor from them. Advocate Rodrigues has stated that Satya Pal Malik had publicly confirmed that he had written those letters.

For over a decade, Goa Raj Bhavan was the only Raj Bhavan in the country not complying with the RTI Act while claiming it was not a ‘Public Authority’. But on October 2, 2021, Governor P. S. Sreedharan Pillai decided to lift that decade-long veil of secrecy by announcing that the Goa Raj Bhavan would now abide by the provisions of the RTI Act, after which the Raj Bhavan received two RTI applications from advocate Rodrigues.