IAS officer Khemka cleared for central deputation

He had invited Cong-led Haryana govt's wrath for DLF-Vadra land deal inquiry

Whistleblower IAS officer Ashok Khemka, who took on Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra by questioning his land deals in Haryana, will be on central deputation with the government clearing the file on his posting.

Khemka, a 1991 batch officer, currently holds the post of Secretary of Department of Archives in the Haryana government.  He has been seeking central deputation after inviting the wrath of the Congress-led state government following his inquiry into the alleged irregularities in land deals between DLF and Vadra.

Sources said the deputation has been cleared and Khemka may join a posting at the Centre in another three weeks. Khemka was transferred at least 45 times in his 23-year career for adopting a no-nonsense approach and not budging to political pressure.

“I had asked for central deputation in March,” Khemka was quoted as saying by PTI. He also said he was not aware of the status of his request, which was recently forwarded to the Centre by the state government.

There was no official word from the government about Khemka’s deputation. When asked, Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said, “We are not commenting on this issue.” “The placement is part of the natural process of administration. It’s not appropriate to attach motives,” he added.

Khemka, who hit the headlines in October 2012 when he called for cancellation of the mutation of Vadra’s land deal with realty giant DLF in Gurgaon, claimed the Haryana government was victimising him for taking on Vadra.

The state government under Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had charged Khemka for “wrongly” cancelling the mutation of the deal.

It alleged that it was an administratively improper step by Khemka as he stood transferred as Managing Director of Haryana Seed Development Corporation (HSDC) on October 11, 2012 from his earlier post of Director General Consolidation of Land Holdings and Land Records-cum-Inspector General of Registration.

Parties such as the BJP and AAP had slammed the targeting of Khemka by the Haryana government.