PANAJI
The Public Information Officer of Raj Bhavan has informed RTI applicant Adv Aires Rodrigues that it does not have details of letters sent from the Prime Minister to then governor Satya Pal Malik.
On December 16, 2021, Adv Rodrigues had filed a second application under RTI, seeking a copy of all official letters received by Malik from the PM and union home minister from November 3, 2019 to August 18, 2020, when Malik was the governor.
Gaurish Shankhwalkar, the designated PIO under the RTI Act at Raj Bhavan, in his reply to Adv Rodrigues has stated official letters from the prime minister and union home minister were all received in closed and sealed envelopes and were handed over to the governor’s personal secretary.
The PIO informed Adv Rodrigues 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.
In an earlier RTI application by Adv Rodrigues, the PIO in November last year had informed him that letters written by former Governor Satya Pal Malik to the PM and the union home minister were not available despite being searched.
Expressing unhappiness over the response of the Raj Bhavan, Adv Rodrigues said he would take every legal recourse available to ensure that the Goa Raj Bhavan complies in letter and spirit in keeping with the intent and mandate of the RTI Act.
