Haryana IAS officer Ashok Khemka writes to CM, seeks Vigilance Dept posting to 'root out corruption'
Chandigarh: Senior IAS officer Ashok Khemka, who built a reputation as an upright officer during his three-decade career -- highlighted by over 50 postings -- has written to Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and offered to "to root out corruption" with a stint in the Vigilance department.
In his letter to Khattar, Khemka -- whose professional life has been marked by controversies and frequent transfers, often to departments seen as unimportant -- said he sacrificed his service career in his zeal to end corruption.
While there is not enough work in his present posting -- the Archives department -- some officers are overloaded with multiple charges and departments due to which they are always fire-fighting, Khemka pointed out.
In the letter dated January 23, Khemka wrote "lopsided distribution of work does not serve public interest".
On January 9, the Haryana government transferred Khemka -- his 56th posting in a career spanning about 31 years.
Khemka, who was at the time additional chief secretary in the Science and Technology department, has been posted as additional chief secretary in the Archives department.
The 1991-batch Haryana-cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer came to the 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.
Mutation is part of the process to transfer ownership of a piece of land.
In his letter to the chief minister, Khemka offered his services to head the Vigilance Bureau "to root out corruption".
"As you know, corruption is all-pervasive. When I see corruption, it hurts my soul. In my zeal to root out the cancer, I have sacrificed my service career. Without rooting out corruption as per stated government policy, the dream of a citizen to achieve his true potential can never be realised. He will be reduced to fighting for survival on a daily basis," he wrote.
He mentioned that he has always been at the forefront in the fight against graft and Vigilance is the main arm of the government to root out corruption.
"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 real war against corruption and no one however high and mighty will be spared," wrote Khemka.
He wrote that the Supreme Court, in the 1987 'PK Chinasamy versus Government of Tamil Nadu and Others' case, held that a public officer should be given posting and work commensurate to his status.
"I have been assigned the Archives department vide government order dated January 9, 2023," wrote Khemka.
He mentioned that the department's annual budget is a meagre Rs 4 crore -- "less than 0.0025 per cent of the total state budget".
"My annual salary as an additional chief secretary is Rs 40 lakh, which in itself is 10 per cent of the department's budget," he added.
Besides, the time required in the Archives is not more than one hour-a-week, he wrote.
"On the other hand, some officers are much overloaded with multiple charges and departments, due to which they are always engaged in firefighting.
"A lopsided distribution of work does not serve public interest. The Civil Services Board must be allowed to function as per the Statutory Rules and make prior recommendations to you, taking into account the integrity, competence, and intellect of each officer," wrote Khemka.
The transfer to the Archives department came days after Khemka wrote to Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal, indicating that he didn't have work following the merger of the Science and Technology department into the Higher Education department.
During the past decade, Khemka has been posted in departments often seen as unimportant. Over his entire career, on an average, he has been transferred about every six months.
This is the fourth time that Khemka has been posted to the Archives department -- three of these stints have been during the tenure of the BJP-led government.
He earlier served as director general and later principal secretary of the Archives department. Khemka was first transferred to the department in 2013 when the Congress was in power.
Khemka has, in the past, indicated some disappointment over having been "left behind" in his career.
After a round of promotions last October, he 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.
"Straight trees are always cut first. No regrets. With renewed resolve, I shall persist."
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HC questions Delhi govt over failure to regulate sale of old vehicles, refers to Red Fort blast
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court questioned the city government on Wednesday over its failure to regulate the sale and transfer of used vehicles, while pointing out that in a recent bomb blast near the Red Fort, a second-hand car was used, making the issue more significant.
A bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela asked the Delhi government to file a detailed response on the issue of regulating authorised dealers of registered vehicles.
"A car changes four hands but the original owner has not changed. Therefore, what happens? That man (the original owner) goes to the slaughterhouse? What is this? How are you permitting this? You will take a call when two-three more bomb blasts take place?" the bench asked the Delhi government's counsel.
The bomb blast near the iconic Mughal-era monument was carried out using a second-hand car, making the issue even more significant, it said.
The court listed the matter for further hearing in January 2026.
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The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) plea filed by an organisation, Towards Happy Earth Foundation, highlighting the challenges in the implementation of rules 55A to 55H of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, introduced in December 2022 to regulate authorised dealers of registered vehicles.
While the rules were intended to bring accountability to the second-hand vehicle market, the petitioner's counsel argued that they have failed in practice due to regulatory gaps and procedural hurdles.
The plea said there is a major gap in the amended framework, that is, the absence of any statutory mechanism for reporting dealer-to-dealer transfers.
"In reality, most used vehicles pass through multiple dealers before reaching the final buyer, but the rules recognise only the first transfer to the initial authorised dealer.
"As a result, the chain of custody breaks after the first step, defeating the very purpose of accountability," the petition said.
It added that because of these gaps, only a very small percentage of dealers across India have been able to obtain authorised dealer registration and in Delhi, not a single dealer has got it.
Consequently, lakhs of vehicles continue to circulate without any record of who is actually in possession of those, it said.
The plea said only a small fraction of India's estimated 30,000 to 40,000 used-vehicle dealers are registered under the authorised-dealer framework.
The petition also pointed out that the 11-year-old vehicle used in the November 10 bomb blast near the Red Fort was sold several times but was still registered in its original owner's name.
The blast near the Red Fort had claimed 15 lives.
