Haryana IAS officer Ashok Khemka made headlines after he cancelled the mutation of a land deal between UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra and real estate giant DLF in October last year. He was then shifted to the Haryana Seed Development Corporation where as MD he exposed a multi-crore fungicide purchase scam recently. On Thursday, he was transferred for the 44th time to the Haryana archives department. Khemka spoke exclusively to Sukhbir Siwach on the possible motives behind his latest transfer.
+ Do you think Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda transferred you at the behest of Robert Vadra?
= Well, I don’ know what made the CM issue this transfer order just five months after my last transfer. After exposing the land licensing scam, I had been transferred to Haryana Seed Development Corporation as its managing director, a very junior level assignment. Why another transfer? Also, it was executed in a very humiliating manner. Even before I got the order, the officer succeeding me came to my office at 3.30pm on Thursday and told me that I should vacate the office so that he can join. He joined without my relieving charge. I asked him to wait for my transfer order to come but the (chief secretary’s) office informed me that I should download the order from the net and relinquish office. I was forced out four hours before the transfer order was actually delivered at my residence. This kind of humiliation will be very, very damaging to the morale of upright public servants.
Also, why did the principal secretary (agriculture) issue orders appointing a junior officer as MD of the corporation? Before this, this post has been held by an IAS officer and the appointment orders issued by the office of chief secretary.
+ Do you think you will keep on being a victim just because you blew the whistle on son-inlaw of Sonia Gandhi?
= Well, I cannot foretell the future but yes, I will continue to do my duty whether it is Mr Robert Vadra who is hit or X, Y, Z. This is not about whistle-blowing, it is about doing your duty. Everyone howsoever high, including the CM, is under the rule of law.
+ Do you think this is a fallout of your move to cancel the mutation of Vadra-DLF land deal during your posting in the land consolidation department?
= Well it could be. That (Vadra-DLF case) became a high profile case in the media. But Vadra was just one case. There was a big politico-bureaucratic nexus and Vadra was probably used as a shield for others. And it acted as a beautiful shield. Today, nobody is questioning the bureaucrats and politicians who misused consolidation proceedings. A glaring example was a case in which a gram panchayat was cheated of 20 acres of prime Gurgaon land. It was restored to it by Punjab and Haryana high court on the basis of an additional statement filed by me, and that too without the government’s approval. I was specifically prohibited by the government from filing it without approval but the approval was not forthcoming. And had that written statement not been filed, the entire scam of misappropriating panchayat land would have been brushed under the carpet. So it was not just Vadra. I think the nexus beautifully used this case to camouflage their own actions.
+ Haryana CM has said that transfer of Khemka is not a big deal. Would you like to comment on it?
= I don’t want to comment on comments. It is the opinion of chief minister and I respect it. But all the weapons in their armoury were used against me, including abusing and threatening me. And, for what? Wasn’t it the late PM Rajiv Gandhi who stated that only Rs 15 out of Rs 100 reached the masses? In my corporation (HSDC) even Rs 15 was not reaching them. I was trying to ensure that the subsidy amount goes directly to the bank account of farmers. Exposing the misappropriation of subsidies and filing cases with the CBI was a duty required of me. To let those implicated in the FIR remain and remove me is g reatly disappointing.
+ Do you plan to go to the CAT against the latest transfer order?
= No. I would respect the decision of the state government. I will use this opportunity to find modern ways to c o n s e r ve t h e material in the archives.
Courtesy:
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2013/04/07&PageLabel=26&EntityId=Ar02600&ViewMode=HTML
+ Do you think Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda transferred you at the behest of Robert Vadra?
= Well, I don’ know what made the CM issue this transfer order just five months after my last transfer. After exposing the land licensing scam, I had been transferred to Haryana Seed Development Corporation as its managing director, a very junior level assignment. Why another transfer? Also, it was executed in a very humiliating manner. Even before I got the order, the officer succeeding me came to my office at 3.30pm on Thursday and told me that I should vacate the office so that he can join. He joined without my relieving charge. I asked him to wait for my transfer order to come but the (chief secretary’s) office informed me that I should download the order from the net and relinquish office. I was forced out four hours before the transfer order was actually delivered at my residence. This kind of humiliation will be very, very damaging to the morale of upright public servants.
Also, why did the principal secretary (agriculture) issue orders appointing a junior officer as MD of the corporation? Before this, this post has been held by an IAS officer and the appointment orders issued by the office of chief secretary.
+ Do you think you will keep on being a victim just because you blew the whistle on son-inlaw of Sonia Gandhi?
= Well, I cannot foretell the future but yes, I will continue to do my duty whether it is Mr Robert Vadra who is hit or X, Y, Z. This is not about whistle-blowing, it is about doing your duty. Everyone howsoever high, including the CM, is under the rule of law.
+ Do you think this is a fallout of your move to cancel the mutation of Vadra-DLF land deal during your posting in the land consolidation department?
= Well it could be. That (Vadra-DLF case) became a high profile case in the media. But Vadra was just one case. There was a big politico-bureaucratic nexus and Vadra was probably used as a shield for others. And it acted as a beautiful shield. Today, nobody is questioning the bureaucrats and politicians who misused consolidation proceedings. A glaring example was a case in which a gram panchayat was cheated of 20 acres of prime Gurgaon land. It was restored to it by Punjab and Haryana high court on the basis of an additional statement filed by me, and that too without the government’s approval. I was specifically prohibited by the government from filing it without approval but the approval was not forthcoming. And had that written statement not been filed, the entire scam of misappropriating panchayat land would have been brushed under the carpet. So it was not just Vadra. I think the nexus beautifully used this case to camouflage their own actions.
+ Haryana CM has said that transfer of Khemka is not a big deal. Would you like to comment on it?
= I don’t want to comment on comments. It is the opinion of chief minister and I respect it. But all the weapons in their armoury were used against me, including abusing and threatening me. And, for what? Wasn’t it the late PM Rajiv Gandhi who stated that only Rs 15 out of Rs 100 reached the masses? In my corporation (HSDC) even Rs 15 was not reaching them. I was trying to ensure that the subsidy amount goes directly to the bank account of farmers. Exposing the misappropriation of subsidies and filing cases with the CBI was a duty required of me. To let those implicated in the FIR remain and remove me is g reatly disappointing.
+ Do you plan to go to the CAT against the latest transfer order?
= No. I would respect the decision of the state government. I will use this opportunity to find modern ways to c o n s e r ve t h e material in the archives.
Courtesy:
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2013/04/07&PageLabel=26&EntityId=Ar02600&ViewMode=HTML
No comments:
Post a Comment