CHANDIGARH: With Haryana government set to slap a second chargesheet against him, whistleblower IAS officer Ashok Khemka, who shot into limelight for questioning controversial Robert Vadra-DLF land deals, has alleged that he was being victimized and publicly humiliated without being heard for exposing “open public loot”.
In an 11-page letter to the chief secretary PK Chaudhery, he attacked chief minister’s principal secretary SS Dhillon and alleged that he along with senior officers had “ganged up” against him and he was facing action for failing to toe the line of the political masters.
Dhillon was not available for comment despite repeated attempts to reach him while sources in the Haryana government maintained they were yet to receive the letter from Khemka. “My biggest ‘crime’, of course, was my cancellation of the mutation by Shri Robert Vadra’s Sky Light Hospitality to DLF Universal on 15th October, 2012,” said Khemka, who had a year back sparked a controversy by cancelling the mutation of the land deal between Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Vadra and real estate major DLF in Gurgaon.
The Haryana government is in the process of serving the IAS officer a second chargesheet for alleged irregularities in wheat seeds sale during his tenure in Haryana Seed Development Corporation as its managing director from October 15, 2012 to April 4 this year.
“If anything adverse was held against me for the unsold seed stocks, the minimum expected was to at least afford me an opportunity to explain before publicly humiliating me with the announcement of a second chargesheet in the media,” Khemka, who has been transferred over 40 times during his career so far, said in his letter on Monday.
Meanwhile, Khemka said that he had not received any chargesheet so far. Three weeks back, the Haryana government had decided to charge Khemka for alleged administrative misconduct in cancelling the mutation of the land deal between Vadra and DLF in Gurgaon.
The 1991-batch IAS officer has been held liable for alleged administrative misconduct for overstepping jurisdiction in passing orders to cancel the mutation of 3.5 acre land in Gurgaon’s Shikohpur village. The land was sold by Vadra to DLF.
Khemka claimed that the motive of charging him without an opportunity of hearing and announcing the same in the media “is to publicly humiliate me.” (PTI)