Chandigarh, April 4
Whistleblower IAS officer Ashok Khemka, who brought land deals of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi's businessman son-in-law Robert Vadra under a scanner last year, was again shunted out by the Haryana Government to an inconsequential post -- his 44th transfer in his over two decade career.

Khemka, who was posted as the Managing Director of the Haryana Seeds Development Corporation (HSDC), has now been posted as Secretary of Haryana Archives, a non-descript department entrusted with preserving public and private records in the state.

Khemka's latest transfer apparently came in the backdrop of his blowing the lid off alleged irregularities in the HSDC that left the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress Government red-faced. Recently, acting on a PIL filed by the Bhiwani Sudhar and Vikas Samiti, the Punjab and Haryana High Court put the Haryana Government on notice for alleged scam in the purchase of "RAXIL 2DS" fungicide worth several crores from an MNC.

Though officials termed the transfer as the "routine" administrative exercise, sources claimed that the state government was clearly rattled by Khemka’s revelations in the purchase of the "RAXIL 2DS" fungicide by the agriculture department and subsequent court case. Incidentally, the HSDC was to file an affidavit in the high court and the transfer is seen as a pre-emptive move against the filing of an "adverse" affidavit by the HSDC in the high court.

When contacted, Khemka said he had already relinquished charge and would assume his new charge tomorrow.

Khemka also had an uneasy relationship with the seed corporation employees on warpath demanding withdrawal thdrawal of notices and charge-sheets, roll back of transfers and reversion to the earlier practice of seeds through the marketing societies. The employees and the state government alleged that the corporation had suffered a loss of Rs 22 crore due to unsold seed stock of 87,000 quintals during his tenure.

The 1991- batch IAS officer hit headlines last October when he, as the Director-General of Land Consolidation and Land Records-cum-Inspector-General of Registration, cancelled the mutation of a multi-crore-rupee land deal between Vadra's company, Sky Light Hospitality, and realty giant DLF and ordered a probe into all land deals done by Vadra and his companies in Haryana's Gurgaon, Faridabad, Mewat and Palwal districts since 2005.

Khemka's action sent the Hooda government in a tizzy and within days, the district authorities of four districts in the national capital region (NCR) gave a "clean chit" to the land deals done by Vadra and his companies. The Hooda government set up a committee of top bureaucrats to look into the action taken by Khemka. In its report, the committee held that Khemka's actions as director-general of land consolidation were not in accordance with laid down procedures. However, Khemka, questioned the rationale of the committee in submitting its report without even seeking his views on the action taken in the land deals.

Widely perceived to be a stickler to rules and an upright officer, Khemka had been "unpopular" officer with the ruling political and bureaucratic classes. In fact, the Hooda government had the dubious distinction of transferring him for 17 times in its eight-year regime. During Om Prakash Chautala's five-year regime, he was shifted nine times.