'I can't go back to Bihar now'

He carries no grouse, neither is he exercised over his act of renunciation. He speaks on the bureaucracy, his charge as CS and the recent controversy.

What's it like to leave a cushy job?
I fought with myself while pondering the issue when I was in office. I'm at peace with myself now. I'm not fighting for myself, I'm not fighting the governor but the system. I was bypassed. I felt I had no role. So I quit.

Under what circumstances will you think of going back?
The governor has been very gracious. But this doesn't involve personalities. It involves real governance issues. I feel I can't go back under the present dispensation. In any case, the present controversy needn't be about my going back or re-joining. It isn't.

Are the guarantees insufficient?
The situation is different. The lacunae has to be addressed wholly. There are no concrete guarantee as of now that the basic issues will be addressed. Therefore, there's no question of going back. I have only been told that once I rejoin, the issues will be resolved. That is offering nothing on pre-conditions.

What are your expectations then?
If my actions are vindicated in as much that efforts are taken to rectify the situation, my successors won't be denied the right to be concurred with on vital governance issues.

So you feel CS's powers were usurped?
I was bypassed. What do you say when traditional departments linked to the CS office like home, personnel and finance are usurped by the advisor and the home secretary starts issuing orders without consulting the CS? In effect, both the advisor and home secretary usurped the CS' powers. The home secretary has no business issuing such orders, irrespective of whether there was the governor's concurrence or not.

You feel the advisor, Arun Pathak, has a role in the present controversy?
I am more surprised that Pathak could be involved in bypassing the CS office. He is a good, efficient officer. It was a privilege working under him when he was CS. I never thought he would disempower the institution of the CS by taking away critical departments and, in the process, render the process of administration redundant and infructous.

What went on in the weeks before last?
There was the proposal of transferring 20 officers. I said yes to 10, objected over some. In the case of the police, Pathak called me and DG Ashish Ranjan Sinha for approval. I placed my objections. He said he'd take cognizance of them and agreed to them. But the final decision came to me in the newspapers.

You also discussed with the Governor?
When proposals came from his office, we always discussed.

Were there specific proposals?
Yes. In one case involving the transfer of the Muzaffarpur DM, I had objections. Pathak asked me if this could go? I said okay, if he thinks so. But when I stated that Siwan SP Ratn Sanjay should stay, Pathak told me he had problems, his family was in Lucknow. I was firm he should stay. But the transfer was still carried out. I was surprised since it was obvious that the same yardstick wasn't applied in two sets of cases.