| Tuesday , September 1 , 2015 |
Home secy shunted- Three issues cited | |
| Nishit Dholabhai and Imran Ahmed Siddiqui | |
 Mehrishi Rajiv Mehrishi, a Rajasthan-cadre IAS officer who was the finance secretary till today, has taken over from L.C. Goyal as the Union home secretary. Goyal, who was appointed home secretary seven months ago in February, has proceeded on voluntary retirement. Home secretaries can serve for two years from the date of appointment, irrespective of the scheduled date of retirement, which means Goyal could have continued in his post for another year and five months. Goyal was appointed the chairman and managing director of the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO). Moving on from internal security, Goyal will run the agency, which organises trade fairs and his base will shift from North Block on Raisina Hill to Pragati Maidan. Sources said the government was miffed with Goyal because of his reported reluctance to scotch suggestions that the home ministry was not kept in the loop when the Naga peace draft was signed recently. He had also urged caution in the Teesta Setalvad case (the activist was granted anticipatory bail in spite of the Centre's best efforts to get her arrested) and differences had cropped up over renewing the Sun TV network's clearance. Others said the shift was part of a bigger exercise aimed at putting in place an overhauled apparatus before pre-budget discussions began and amid a perception that the Modi government had not been able to do much since the landslide victory last year. Asked whether the three issues led to his sudden replacement, Goyal told The Telegraph : "As a government servant, I discharged my duties and have nothing against the government. I just decided to call it a day and there is no question of being upset with the government. There is speculation but it's incorrect." The soft-spoken officer added: "I am not angry with this government. It was my personal decision to call it a day." Asked about his new trade fair assignment, Goyal said: "I am not aware of it. Nobody has told me about it so far.... I do not know." Sources said home minister Rajnath Singh had met Goyal on Friday for nearly an hour. "Goyal was told to put in his papers on Friday evening and apply for voluntary retirement. The next morning he came to his office and submitted his resignation," said an official. A few officials agreed to speak to this newspaper on the three issues on the condition of anonymity. On August 3, the Naga agreement was signed under the direct supervision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A few days later, Goyal wrote to R.N Ravi, the interlocutor for the Naga peace talks, asking for a copy of the agreement, according to an official. "The home ministry was not kept in the loop and the content of the agreement was not shared with it. Goyal's letter asking for it made some officials in the PMO very angry," an official said. On Sun TV, Goyal was apparently among those adamant on not giving clearance to the network citing security concerns stemming from a case against the promoters, the Marans. But the information and broadcasting ministry is said to be against linking the case and the broadcasting licence. "In the Teesta case, the government wanted speedy action. But Goyal asked his officials to play by the book, which meant time-consuming investigations. This angered the government," an official said. Recently, the Enforcement Directorate chief was replaced amid suggestions that the Centre was unhappy with him because the agency felt that prima facie, no case could be made out against Sonia Gandhi in a newspaper trust case. Goyal had replaced Anil Goswami as home secretary in February after the latter was accused of interfering in the CBI probe into the Saradha scam on behalf of an accused. Goyal should have retired this month in the normal course but his stint as home secretary had made him immune to the retirement cut-off for two years. Similarly, Mehrishi, a 1978-batch officer, was scheduled to retire today. But his assignment in the home ministry will ensure that he can continue in the post for two years unless he is removed by the government midway. Six top positions - the cabinet secretary, foreign secretary, defence secretary, home secretary, director of the Intelligence Bureau and the secretary of the Research and Analysis Wing - have fixed two-year tenures from the date of appointment. A history postgraduate from St Stephen's college, Mehrishi is believed to be close to finance minister Arun Jaitley. Mehrishi was the economic affairs secretary till today. (The finance ministry has five secretaries, the senior-most of whom - Mehrishi in this instance - is also known as the finance secretary.) This is the third significant secretarial displacement from a top department by the Modi government in seven months. The first was the overnight removal of foreign secretary Sujatha Singh and her replacement with S. Jaishankar days after US President Barack Obama's January visit. In early February, Goswami was removed and Goyal appointed. Now, Goyal's two-year term has been cut short. During the UPA administration, RAW chief K.C. Verma had retired prematurely in 2010 to ensure a desired chain of succession in the agency. Mehrishi has got special dispensation in one more aspect. He has been appointed though he does not have any previous experience at the home ministry. Former home secretaries such as Goyal and his predecessors Goswami, R.K. Singh (who is now a BJP MP) and G.K. Pillai had served in director or joint secretary ranks in the home ministry at some point in their careers. Mehrishi had worked in the President's secretariat and the cabinet secretariat. That the new appointment was made directly by the Prime Minister was apparent from the statement put out by the Prime Minister's Office, besides a release from the department of personnel and training (DoPT) on new appointments by the appointments committee of the cabinet (ACC). Usually, appointments cleared by the ACC are announced only by the DoPT. "The Prime Minister has also approved the request of Shri L.C. Goyal, IAS, seeking voluntary retirement from government service due to personal reasons with immediate effect," the PMO release said. Another aspect that stands out is the position of Rajnath. The ACC is made of the Prime Minister and the home minister. The Opposition is certain to cite the media release from South Block to imply that the Prime Minister's Office is deciding appointments in North Block. Last year, Rajnath had to face sarcastic remarks from the Opposition because he was allegedly not being consulted by the PMO on key appointments in his own ministry. |