Former J&K Governor Satyapal Malik passes away at 79

Former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satyapal Malik died on Tuesday at a hospital here after a prolonged illness, his personal staff said. He was 79.

Malik, who had also held the positions of governor of Goa, Bihar, Meghalaya, and Odisha, besides being a member of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in his long political career, died at 1.12 pm at the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital here.

He was in the ICU of the hospital for a long time, getting treatment for various ailments, the staff said.

"It is with deep regret that we confirm the demise of Satyapal Malik, who had been receiving intensive care at our facility," the RML authorities said in a statement.

The patient had a longstanding history of diabetic kidney disease, hypertension, and other chronic health issues, including morbid obesity and obstructive sleep apnea, the said.

In his gubernatorial role at Jammu and Kashmir, Malik oversaw the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the state into two Union Territories on August 5, 2019. Coincidentally, he took his last breath on the sixth anniversary of the Centre's move.

Malik attracted a lot of controversy after alleging that he was offered a bribe to clear files of two major projects in Jammu and Kashmir and questioned the BJP-led central government over issues related to farmers and the Pulwama terror attack, among others.

The CBI, which took over the probe into the two issues flagged by Malik, had filed a charge sheet against him in May this year in one of the cases about the Rs 2200-crore Kiru hydropower project.

According to the hospital statement, Malik was admitted to the hospital on May 11 at 12.04 pm with a complicated urinary tract infection. He subsequently developed refractory septic shock secondary to urinary tract infection, hospital-acquired pneumonia and multi-organ dysfunction.

"Despite all appropriate and aggressive medical interventions, including multiple antibiotics and cytosorb 2 sessions, including ventilatory support and critical care management, his condition continued to deteriorate," it said.

"He also developed disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and acute kidney injury on chronic kidney disease, needing multiple hemodialysis sessions. Malik sadly passed away on 5 August 2025 at 1:12 pm," the statement said.