Haryana slaps probe on Vadra deal ‘whistleblower’ Khemka
18 Jan 2014
In an apparently vindictive action, the Haryana government has ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe against Indian Administrative Services officer Ashok Khemka over a Rs8-crore contract allegedly awarded by him to a Gujarat-based firm when he was the managing director of the State Warehouse Corporation in 2009.
Khemka has incurred the wrath of both the centre and the state government after he alleged that Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of Congress president and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, had been allowed by the authorities to make a highly profitable sweetheart land deal with realty major DLF in Haryana.
Khemka has rejected the allegations and is being hounded by the Congress, which controls the central and state governments. Two months ago, he had sent a detailed letter to the Haryana chief secretary dismissing the charges against him.
The CBI inquiry ordered against him is likely to be a big issue in Haryana ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
The Haryana government has alleged that Khemka changed the terms and conditions listed in the contract without seeking its consent.
Khemka has been an Indian Administrative Service officer for 23 years, and has been transferred at least 45 times in this period – averaging a transfer every six months.
He is known for exposing shady land deals, of which the Vadra case is the most sensational.