M A I N   N E W S

Aggrieved parties free to move court: Khemka
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October18
Whistleblower Haryana IAS officer Ashok Khemka, who cancelled the mutation of 3.5 acres of land belonging to Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra with realty major DLF Universal, today dared any aggrieved party -- government or parties to the deal -- to move court against his orders.

Talking to reporters after meeting Chief Secretary PK Chaudhery at the Punjab and Haryana Civil Secretariat here today, Khemka, who signed the order on the last day of his stint (October 15) in the registrations department, claimed that there was nothing wrong in the order.

Without divulging details of his meeting with the Chief Secretary, Khemka said it was “privileged communication” and cannot be disclosed to the media. "I won't reveal more about it as communication with the Chief Secretary is privileged. I am fully

satisfied with the Chief Secretary's explanation. He told me that my transfer was made in the interest of good administration," Khemka said.

Asked if he was not aware earlier that an employee’s transfer was the prerogative of the state government, he said, "Earlier I was not satisfied, which is why I wrote the letter (to the Chief Secretary).”

Khemka met the Chief Secretary for about 50 minutes -- his first meeting after the recent controversy arising out of his order and his subsequent transfer from the post of Director-General of Consolidation to Managing Director of the Haryana Seed Development Corporation.

While Khemka has claimed that he was transferred after he initiated a probe into the Manesar land deal between Vadra and DLF Universal, the Haryana Government claimed there was no link between the investigation and the 1991 batch IAS officer’s transfer, stating that the “transfer is the prerogative of the state government and there was no malafide intention in this”.

Replying to Town and Country Planning Director-General TC Gupta’s defence of the Robert Vadra-DLF Universal deal and his demand for action against Khemka, the transferred IAS officer said, "A government order has been passed on the issue. If Gupta or any affected party finds it wrong, he is free to go to court."