File photo of IAS officer Ashok Khemka
Whistleblower IAS officer Ashok Khemka, who had red-flagged the land deal between real estate giant DLF and Robert Vadra in Haryana's Gurgaon, has been transferred yet again.
In what is the 45th transfer in his 23-year-old career as a bureaucrat, Mr Khemka has been shunted out as Transport Commissioner and has been posted as Secretary, Archaeology and Museums Department and Director General, Archaeology and Museums by the BJP government in Haryana.
Sources say the 49-year-old IAS officer was at loggerheads with transport minister Ram Bilas Sharma over relaxing norms for overloading of vehicles. As state transport commissioner, Mr Khemka had authorised district officials to penalise erring vehicles - mostly involved in the mining business.
Mr Khemka was appointed as transport commissioner and secretary, Transport department, last year after Manohar Lal Khattar assumed office as chief minister of the first BJP government in Haryana.
The IAS officer had shot into limelight after he, as an inspector general, registrations, had cancelled the mutation of the 3.5 acres of land in Gurgaon's Shikohpur village in November 2012. The land had been transferred by Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra's real estate firm Skylight Hospitality to DLF.
The then Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government had constituted an enquiry committee to probe allegations by Mr Khemka against the land deal, which subsequently set aside the bureaucrat's order.
Mr Khemka was later charge-sheeted for administrative misconduct. The new BJP government though supported Mr Khemka's stand on the issue but has not acted on his plea to cancel the charge-sheet against him.