The move, however, has raised many an eyebrow in the Secretariat in view of the fact that Food and Civil Supplies Minister Jaspal Singh had written a strong note on the file justifying the detention.

Kantibhai was detained after a raid by Civil Supplies officials on his industrial unit, Valley Velvette, at Tajpur in Sabarkantha district on April 3 last year. The team had seized over 900 litres of blue kerosene meant for distribution to ration card holders from the premises.

A few days back, the Union Minister arrived here and reportedly urged Singh to order Kantilal's release. When Singh refused, he met the Chief Minister and reportedly threatened to resign from the Vajpayee Ministry if Kantibhai was not freed.

This forced the Civil Supplies Department to grant Kantilal seven days' parole, which was later extended to three more days.

Secretariat sources said today two senior bureaucrats had been despatched on March 24 last, reportedly at the Chief Minister's behest, to persuade Singh.

When Singh refused to fall in line, the file went to the Chief Minister who ordered Kantibhai's release the following day.

During the raid, Kantibhai had pleaded he did not know how the unauthorised quota of kerosene had reached his premises, and produced bills of white kerosene presumed to have been purchased from the open market.

But, on June 15, he admitted that the blue kerosene was being used in the manufacture of vinyl flooring, and obtained a stay order from Gujarat High Court, which was later vacated.

Later, Kantibhai moved the High Court with a special criminal petition, alleging malafide actions by the Sabarkantha District Supplies Officer and accusing the Government of harassment.

When the High Court rejected the petition this February 1, Kantibhai was detained on March 8 and sent to the Vadodara Central Prison.

He was granted parole reportedly after A K Patel mounted pressure on the Chief Minister. Ordering Kantibhai's release, the Chief Minister reportedly maintained that ``the owner of the industrial unit was not engaged in selling the blue kerosene, but merely using it for processing at his factory".