Mumbai : A day after controversy erupted over denying Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Anchal Goyal from taking charge as Parbhani district collector, the Maharashtra government on Tuesday clarified that her transfer was not cancelled and that she will take charge of the post.

District guardian minister Nawab Malik said that Goyal was not allowed to take charge following an objection raised with chief minister Uddhav Thackeray (CM). However, Thackeray accepted Malik’s request to allow her to take charge of the position.

Goyal, who was transferred to Parbhani as the collector on July 13, was not allowed to take charge last week. On July 30, the general administration department (GAD) directed incumbent collector Deepak Mugalikar to hand over the charge to additional collector AjitPatil, forcing Goyal to return to Mumbai. The matter has been seen as a case of political interference.

“An objection was raised by an elected representative with the CM over Goyal’s transfer as Parbhani district collector, following which she was asked not to take charge for the time being. Her transfer order was not cancelled. Today, the issue was discussed with the CM. I requested him to allow her to take the responsibility and the CM agreed to it. Goyal will soon be asked to take charge as the district collector,” Malik told reporters after the state cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

There were reports that the local Member of Parliament (MP) Sanjay Jadhav from the Shiv Sena made efforts to ensure that Goyal’s transfer order to Parbhani was cancelled. However, Jadhav refuted the charges. “I have nothing to do with her transfer order. I’m simply a public representative. The power of transferring IAS officials lies with the state administration and the chief secretary (SitaramKunte),” he told HT on Monday.

Malik refused to divulge any name and said he did not know who had raised the objection against Goyal’s appointment. He said it was raised by an elected representative was but clarified that he had never objected to her transfer. “Before leaving for Parbhani, she informed me about going to the district to take charge of the post,” he said.