NEW DELHI, Feb 4: Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami was tonight shown the door in the wake of the controversy over his alleged attempt to stall the arrest of Saradha scam accused Matang Sinh, a former Congress Minister at the Centre.
Rural Development Secretary L C Goyal, a 1979-batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre, was named as Goswami’s successor by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet for a period of two years from the date of taking charge, according to a late night official announcement.
After he was asked to resign, Goswami, a 1978-batch IAS officer of Jammu and Kashmir cadre, made a request for voluntary retirement with immediate effect by waiving the notice period which was accepted by the Government.
“Consequent upon approval of the request, the term of Goswami as Home Secretary will stand curtailed with immediate effect,” according to the announcement.
Goswami was appointed as Home Secretary in 2013 during the tenure of UPA Government. He turned 60 last month and would have continued till June 30.
The exit of Goswami came on a day of hectic activities following media reports that he had tried to prevent CBI officers from carrying out Sinh’s arrest on Saturday.
This is the second instance of the removal of a top bureaucrat in a week after Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh’s services were curtailed last Wednesday after she refused to resign from the post. While there were no allegations of impropriety against her, the Government is said to have been unhappy with her leadership of the Ministry.
The continuance of Goswami became untenable after he had admitted to Home Minister Rajnath Singh that he had spoken to CBI officials before they arrested Sinh in Kolkata on Saturday.
PTI had reported on Sunday that CBI was miffed with the interference by Goswami in the arrest of Sinh. The agency had submitted a report to the PMO on the issue about Goswami and a Joint Director level officer of CBI.
Rajnath Singh who had returned to the capital yesterday talked to Goswami who admitted to have called up CBI officials probing the Saradha scam in connection with Sinh’s arrest.
The Minister immediately briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue last night. Today he called Goswami for a discussion followed by a meeting with CBI Director Anil Sinha.
Both the officials maintained silence on their separate meetings with the Home Minister.
Goswami was said to have been close to Matang Sinh, a controversial politician from Assam who was a Minister of State for Home in PV Narasimha Rao’s Government. (PTI)
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