Who is Ashok Khemka? IAS officer who cancelled Robert Vadra land deal mutation in 2012 to retire after 57 transfers in 34 years of service
NEW DELHI: Senior IAS officer
Ashok Khemka
, whose name became synonymous with
bureaucratic integrity
and political friction, is set to retire this week from his post as additional chief secretary in Haryana's Transport Department.
Known as much for his honesty as for the 57 transfers he endured in 34 years of service, the 1991-batch Haryana-cadre officer bows out with a reputation few civil servants can claim—one built on defiance in the face of
political pressure
.
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Khemka's final posting came in December 2024. As he prepares to formally exit government service on Wednesday, his career remains defined by a single explosive episode from over a decade ago: the 2012 cancellation of a
Gurugram land deal
involving
Robert Vadra
, son-in-law of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, and realty giant DLF.
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The flashpoint that shaped a career
In October 2012, Khemka—then posted as Director General, Consolidation of Land Holdings—was suddenly transferred. But before relinquishing charge, he issued an order cancelling the mutation of a 3.5-acre land deal between Vadra's firm and DLF in Gurugram. The move questioned the legality of the transaction and disrupted powerful interests.
The backlash was swift. Allegations flew that Khemka had overstepped his jurisdiction, failed to provide the affected parties a hearing, and even deliberately stayed in office four days after his transfer to pass the controversial order. The government accused him of violating multiple All India Service Rules and faulted him for going public with criticism of government policies—charges Khemka defended in a detailed letter to the chief secretary at the time.
Within a day of his transfer, Khemka had also ordered deputy commissioners across four districts—Gurgaon, Palwal, Faridabad, and Mewat—to examine whether stamp duty had been paid properly in land deals linked to Vadra's firm. The government called the move "selective" and disproportionate, claiming thousands of land transactions had occurred between 2005 and 2012, but Khemka zeroed in on just one.
The price of whistleblowing?
What followed was a barrage of transfers and departmental actions that seemed designed to isolate the officer. In the months after the Vadra-DLF episode, Khemka was moved to the Haryana Seed Development Corporation (HSDC). There, too, he raised red flags—this time over irregular fungicide procurement for wheat seed treatment. That exposure prompted another transfer, to the archives department in 2013.
Then came the inquiries.
Between September and November 2013, the Haryana government slapped him with multiple charge sheets: one for cancelling the mutation, another for low seed sales at HSDC, and others based on complaints related to procurement of moong, weedicides, and even roofing sheets. In some cases, Khemka's name didn't even appear in the original complaint—but his presence in the system made him the focus of investigation.
Even a four-year-old employee promotion issue was revived against him. Each time, Khemka responded with documents, explanations, and denials. And each time, the state found new grounds to question him.
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