Waking up to media reports that former Patna district magistrate Gautam Goswami was now with the Sahara Group, the Department of Personnel today asked Bihar to explain how was the official allowed to switch careers without permission from the cadre controlling authority.Goswami, a 1991 batch IAS official, is under a cloud in the Bihar flood scam exposed by The Indian Express because it was during his tenure as Patna DM that Rs 17.45 crore meant for flood relief was withdrawn from the DM’s account.Santosh Kumar Jha, a contractor who has close links to RJD leader Sadhu Yadav and is all praise for Goswami, admitted last week that he was the recipient of the Rs 17.45 crore.The Department of Personnel today sought a report from Bihar Chief Secretary K A H Subramaniam on Goswami’s status.Official sources said that Goswami’s new job with the Sahara Group, without prior permission of the state government, is a violation of All India Services Conduct Rules, 1968. The Centre, officials said, can only ask Bihar to explain since the disciplinary authority in this case is the state government.After Express expose on the flood scam, Bihar submitted a sealed report to the Prime Minister’s Office, Home Minister and Personnel Minister.It’s learnt that the Bihar government report is preliminary in content, simply stating that Goswami’s request for termination of his services has been rejected. At the same time it says the ongoing vigilance inquiry into the flood scam has to be completed before any action can be initiated against any official.
