Ashok Khemka transferred again: IAS officer says 'vested interests' win, but resolves to work with renewed vigour

Chandigarh: Senior bureaucrat Ashok Khemka was among 13 IAS officers who were transferred by the Manohar Lal Khattar government in Haryana on Sunday, an official release said.Khemka, who held the charge of principal secretary, social justice and empowerment department, was transferred and posted as principal secretary, sports and youth affairs, the release said.The 1991-batch IAS officer, who has been transferred over 45 times during his nearly three-decade-long career, took to Twitter after the latest order was issued.According to The Times of India, the latest transfer order has come a month after Khemka asked Haryana minister Krishan Kumar Bedi to return an official jeep he was using. The report added that Bedi was using a vehicle belonging to a district social welfare officer in Ambala.The Indian Express reported that following the letter from Khemka, Bedi returned the official jeep of the junior officer on 7 October."I have nothing to do with the matter. It was an arrangement between the officials. The matter came to my notice two days ago, and I immediately told the department’s director to send the car to the officer concerned," Bedi was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.[caption id="attachment_2733776" align="alignleft" width="380"]

File photo of Ashok Khemka. PTI[/caption]Khemka had shot to limelight in 2012 when he cancelled the mutation of a land deal between Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra's company and realty major DLF.According to an NDTV report, Khemka had alleged that he was persecuted by the Congress government after he cancelled the land deal.The Bhupinder Hooda-led Congress government had set up an inquiry into the land deal and then chargesheeted Khemka for "causing damage to Vadra's reputation" and illegally cancelled the deal, added the report.Among the other IAS officers transferred were Sunil Kumar Gulati, additional chief secretary (ACS) in the fisheries department who has been posted as chairman/managing director of Haryana Minerals Limited.Shaleen Kumar, additional secretary, finance department, has been posted as director, medical education and research, "in addition to his present duties", the release said.With inputs from PTI