Former Patna district magistrate Gautam Goswami, evading arrest in the multi-crore flood relief scam, on Friday withdrew his resignation from the Indian Administrative Service even as Governor Buta Singh said the process for his dismissal had already been set in motion.

Goswami sent a letter withdrawing his resignation to his counsel Tuhin Shanker who forwarded it to state's personnel secretary Ravi Kant.

"With the withdrawal, his resignation has become a nullity. It is settled by law that a person who withdraws his resignation prior to its acceptance will be deemed to be part of the service," Shanker told PTI.

Kant, however, has neither confirmed nor denied receiving Goswami's letter. Goswami, a 1991 batch IAS officer, had resigned from service in January 2005 and joined the Sahara group of companies as senior vice-president before being dismissed on June 6 following the surfacing of the flood scam last month.

• Goswami seeks anticipatory bail

The government had recently served a show cause notice to Goswami as to why action should not be initiated against him for joining a private company even before his resignation was accepted.

As per the government of India service rules, clearance from the vigilance department and the Lokayukta is mandatory for acceptance of resignation.

Meanwhile, Governor Singh on Friday said the process for Goswami's dismissal has been initiated and that it was only a matter of time that he was arrested.

Designated vigilance judge J M Sharma had on May 31 issued non-bailable arrest warrants against Goswami and eight others, including Santosh Jha, a supplier of relief materials and alleged kingpin of the scam.

Jha had surrendered before the designated judge and is lodged in judicial custody at present. Vigilance sleuths had also arrested five of the 28 accused in the case.

The vigilance bureau had on May 18 registered a first information report in connection with the multi-crore scam against 28 accused, including Goswami, charging them with commiting fraud, forgery and cheating by entering into criminal conspiracy with owners of fake firms, including Baba Satya [Images] Sai Industries.

The bureau, apart from announcing a reward of Rs 1 lakh to those providing information leading to Goswami's arrest, had impounded his passport on the vigilance court's directive.

Domestic and international airports across the country, besides the immigration check posts, were alerted to prevent Goswami from flying out of the country.

Goswami, declared 'Young Asian Hero' by the Time magazine alongside film icon Shah Rukh Khan [Images] for remarkable services rendered by him as a nodal officer for relief during last year's floods, moved the high court on June 13 for anticipatory bail after his petition was rejected by the vigilance court on June 6.

The petition is yet to be heard. Meanwhile, Special Vigilance Judge J M Sharma on Friday issued proclamation notices to Goswami and seven other accused asking them to appear before him by July 16 failing which property attachment orders would be passed.