New Delhi, Aug. 20: The fight between Steel Authority of India Ltd and steel minister Ram Vilas Paswan seems to have intensified.

Ashis Das, SAIL’s director personnel, has suddenly resigned from the steel giant’s board five months ahead of his retirement. Sources said Das had fallen foul of the minister’s office.

To mollify Paswan, SAIL chairman V. S. Jain today shifted S. K. Rungta, the steel giant’s commercial director against whom the minister had ordered a probe, to Das’s post.

SAIL’s director technical K. K. Khanna has been given additional charge of the crucial marketing portfolio.

The SAIL chairman himself is believed to be under attack from the steel minister’s office. He is accused of farming out SAIL’s audit work to a firm where his daughter works.

However, sources close to Jain claim he had always declared this fact and stayed away from board meetings where decisions on the issue were taken.

Rungta went on long leave after Paswan appointed committees to look into allegations of irregularities in coal purchases, but rejoined after an order was passed two weeks back appointing Salem Steel’s executive director M. Roy in his place.

Rungta’s return as commercial director is believed to have set off an unprecedented confrontation between Paswan’s office and SAIL.