NEW DELHI: Satya Pal Malik was on Tuesday transferred as Governor of the northeastern state of Meghalaya, replacing Tathagata Roy who completed his five-year tenure on the gubernatorial post.
A Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said Malik has been shifted to Meghalaya, and Governor of Maharashtra Bhagat Singh Koshyari has been asked to discharge the functions of Goa governor in addition to his own duties.
There was, however, no mention of Roy, who completed his five-year tenure by serving as governor of Tripura for three years and the remaining in Meghalaya.
There is no fixed tenure for governors, but conventionally it is considered for a period of five years. There have been examples in the past where governors have served for a longer period like that of E S L Narasimhan, who served continuously for 12 years in Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh (undivided) and later in Telangana.
Roy, who would turn 75 next month, had stoked a controversy last year when he supported a tweet by a retired army official calling for banning of Kashmiri goods in the aftermath of an attack on the CRPF convoy that killed 40 security personnel.
As the news of the new appointment reached Shillong, Roy tweeted, “Upon receipt of news from Rashtrapati Bhavan I spoke to Shri Satyapal Malikji, the new Governor-Designate and welcomed him to Shillong. It may take him a little time to come here.”
“I was supposed to have been relieved on 20th May. Now the end of the road is in sight!” he said.
Roy was appointed governor of Meghalaya in August 2018 and continued till date, barring absence between December 2019 to January 2020 when he was on leave.
Malik (73) was the last governor of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir before it was divided into two union territories — Ladakh and JK– on October 31 last year. The announcement in this regard was made on August 5 last year when the Centre abrogated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
(AGENCIES)
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