DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

Senior IAS officer Ashok Khemka, known for his uprightness in his nearly 34-year career that saw 57 postings, superannuated on Wednesday.

The 1991-batch Haryana cadre IAS officer, who saw his last posting as Additional Chief Secretary in Transport Department, 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.

He was transferred and posted to the Transport department in December 2024.

Born in Kolkata on April 30, 1965, Khemka 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, 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.

In 2023, Khemka wrote to 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. After a round of promotions over two years ago, Khemka had 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, Khemka had been posted in departments considered "low profile." Over his entire career, on average, he had 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.

(editor@dailyworld.in)