He, however, strongly refuted the charge that he had threatened the Governor to step down.
In an affidavit filed in the apex court, Goswami submitted that no Governor was forced to resign by the NDA government after it came to power in May except in the case of Mizoram Governor Kamla Beniwal who was removed as her conduct was not compatible with the high constitutional office. He said that Governors had resigned on their own volition.
Referring to a controversial statement made by Qureshi in which he had said that henious crimes such as rape can only be stopped by divine intervention, the Home Secretary submitted that it was in "extremely poor taste" and "highly insensitive" and suggested him to resign after that.
"I mentioned that the explanations were not satisfactory as his comments had created an uproar. In view of this situation, I had suggested that he may consider putting in his paper because the Office of the Governor had been embroiled in needless controversies," he said, adding, "I submit that I did not threaten the Governor to resign".
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"Dr Aziz Qureshi, while being a Governor, had made certain statements which were not compatible with the high constitutional office that he was occupying and as such it was my duty to interact with him," he said.
"It is the actions of the petitioner himself which have given rise to a situation which does not behove of a Governor," he said.