Ashok Khemka, senior IAS officer who cancelled the controversial Robert Vadra-DLF land deal, met Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for nearly 40 minutes on Thursday.
Though the Chief Minister’s Media Adviser called it a “routine meeting”, the interaction assumes significance as Mr. Khemka had expressed his displeasure at his recent transfer from the Transport Department to the Archaeology and Museums Department. He has been transferred over 45 times in his career.
He tweeted on Wednesday that he just did “what is expected of public servants” and should not be labelled a “whistleblower”. Upon his April 1 transfer, he tweeted that he had tried hard to address corruption and bring reforms in the Transport Department despite severe limitations and entrenched interests. He had described the moment of his transfer as “truly painful”.
Though Mr. Khemka was scheduled to meet the Chief Minister on Wednesday, the meeting was postponed by a day. Soon after the meeting, he tweeted: “Three types of karmas we see today very well portrayed in the great epic Mahabharata, illustrated by Duryodhana, Bhishmapitamah and Arjuna.”
Mr. Khemka faces a charge sheet filed against him by the previous Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government in the State for actions initiated by him in the DLF-Vadra land deal case. Following the Comptroller and Auditor-General’s report in which the Hooda government stands indicted, Mr. Khemka said he “stands vindicated,” but continues “to suffer the stigma of a charge sheet”.
Lamenting that the “real culprits sit in judgment over me,” Mr. Khemka hoped that that “my pain and suffering may help to detox and cleanse the body politic.” He said many issues had been left “untouched” in the CAG report.
Mr. Khattar last month said at a press meeting that the BJP government in Haryana was looking into the issue of dropping the charge sheet. “However, we will decide on all such issues once and for all. Honest people will not suffer during our rule,” he said.
