Senior IAS officer Ashok Khemka, known for his uprightness during his nearly 34-year career, which saw 57 postings, will be superannuating on Wednesday.
The 1991-batch officer will retire as Additional Chief Secretary, Transport Department. He was transferred and posted to his current job in December 2024.
The Haryana-cadre IAS officer came to national limelight in 2012 when he cancelled the mutation of a Gurugram land deal linked to Congress leader Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law, Robert Vadra.
A mutation is part of the process to transfer ownership of a piece of land.
Born in Kolkata on April 30, 1965, he earned a Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Kharagpur in 1988, followed by a PhD in Computer Science from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and an MBA specialising in Business Administration and Finance.
While in service, he also completed his LLB from Panjab University.
With 57 transfers during his career, probably the highest among the state's bureaucracy, Mr Khemka last December returned to the transport department, which is currently being handled by Minister Anil Vij. The move came nearly 10 years after he was transferred out as transport commissioner, in the first term of the then-BJP government headed by Manohar Lal Khattar.
At the time of his removal, Mr Khemka had been in the transport department for only four months.
In 2023, Mr Khemka wrote to Mr Khattar and offered to "root out corruption" with a stint in the vigilance department.
He said he had sacrificed his service career in his zeal to end corruption.
While there is not enough work in his present posting -- the Archives department (the department he then handled) -- some officers are overloaded with multiple charges and departments, due to which they are always firefighting, he had then pointed out.
In the letter dated January 23, 2023, Mr Khemka wrote, "Lopsided distribution of work does not serve public interest." "Towards the end of my service career, I offer my services to head the vigilance department to root out corruption.
"If given an opportunity, I assure you there would be a real war against corruption and no one however high and mighty will be spared," the IAS officer had written.
After a round of promotions over two years back, Mr Khemka tweeted: "Congratulations to my batchmates newly appointed as Secretaries to GOI! While this is an occasion for merry, it brings equal measure of despondency for one's own self having been left behind." He added, "Straight trees are always cut first. No regrets. With renewed resolve, I shall persist." In the past more than 12 years, Mr Khemka has been posted in departments considered "low profile." Over his entire career, on average, he has been transferred about every six months.
Earlier, he had been posted to the Archives department for the fourth time -- three of these stints have been during the tenure of the BJP-led government.
He earlier served as the director general and later the principal secretary of the Archives department. He was first transferred to the department in 2013 when the Congress was in power.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
