Khemka justifies cancellation of Vadra-DLF deal

Senior administrative officer Ashok Khemka has said his orders to cancel the mutation of a land deal between Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra's company and real estate giant DLF are final and can only be challenged in a court.

In a letter to state chief secretary P K Chaudhery, he termed the government's decision to set up a committee to probe his orders as a "cover-up to the gargantuan land scams" in the state, and sought relevant file notings from the state government.

Four days after the high-level panel submitted its inquiry report into the cancellation of mutation of 3.5 acres of land in Gurgaon, the Indian Administrative Service officer stood his ground on his findings in the controversial deal.

In his letter to the chief secretary P K Chaudhery, Khemka, who as director general of consolidation of holdings had cancelled the mutation of land deal, wrote that his orders under Section 42 of the East Punjab Holdings (Consolidation and Prevention of Fragmentation) Act, 1948, were "quasi- judicial and final".

Khemka, who is currently managing director of the Haryana Seeds Development Corporation, has also sought a copy of the government order constituting the inquiry committee, its terms of reference and relevant file notings constituting the panel.

Khemka told PTI the committee is a "sham to justify possible action against me as a cover to the gargantuan land scams".
                                                   
"All this kind of humiliation and mental torture is to break me down psychologically," he claimed, adding that "vested interests" in the government have "pre-judged" the matter.