Within a few hours after he initiated a probe into the land deals between Robert Vadra and DFL in Haryana, Mr.Ashok Khemka, a senior IAS Officer who had been holding the posts of Special Collector as well as Director-General of Land Consolidation and Land Records-cum-Inspector General of Registration was transferred to a post much below his seniority in the Haryana Seeds Development Corporation.The transfer orders reached him around 10 PM. (Interesting timing, isn’t it? Haryana Government does work overtime, it seems.)
- Ashok Khemka
The next day, on 12th october, Mr.Khemka ordered the Deputy Commissioners of the Faridabad, Gurgaon, Mewat, and Palwal districts of Haryana to inquire into the “alleged under-valuation of some properties registered by Shri Robert Vadra or his companies as vendor or vendee.” He asked them to inspect all the documents relating to all properties bought or sold by Robert Vadra and his companies from 2005 till date to ascertain whether any stamp duty had been evaded by undervaluation of properties and asserted that “in case of under-valuations the matter should be referred to the Collector under Section 47-A of the Indian Stamps Act for correct assessment of the stamp duty payable.” He asked them to file the report so as to reach his office by 25th October 2012.
Mr.Khemka had been the Inspector General of Registration for less than three months. In that short period he unearthed fraudulent transactions relating to the transfer of lands belonging to Panchayats to real estate dealers, politicians and officials. But his nemesis came when he initiated the probe into the Vadra – DFL deals. So it seems.
Mr.Khemka relinquished charge on 15th October after delivering yet another blow. Based on the preliminary findings of an inquiry into one such property, through a well-reasoned order he cancelled the mutation of 3.531 acres of land in Manesar-Shikhhpur that DFL had bought from Robert Vadra.
The land was bought by Sky Light Hospitality for Rs. 7.5 crore on February 12, 2008; and was mutated in its favour the next day. On 28th March 2008 – barely six weeks after the purchase – the Town and Country Planning Departments licensed Sky Light Hospitality to develop 2.701 acres of the 3.531 acres into a housing colony; the license was renewed on 18th January 2011.
In his order cancelling the mutation of the land, Mr.Khemka commented: “It is not clear what made the Town and Country Planning Department renew the licence in 2011 in favour of Sky Light Ltd when 86.2 per cent of the total sale money had been paid 15 months before.”
As per the inquiry into the deal, within 65 days of the first license (28th March 2008) , Robert Vadra entered into agreement with DFL for sale of the land for a consideration of Rs.58 crores. (A clean profit of well over Rs.50 crores in less than six months from the date of purchase! Ah, land values seem to escalate very rapidly in Haryana, don’t they?)
The first instalment of the purchase consideration was paid by DFL on 3rd June 2008 and by October 2009 DFL had already paid Rs.50 crores of the purchase consideration of Rs.58 crores though the sale was finally registered only on 18th September 2012.
Thus, though more than four years would seem to have elapsed between the date of purchase (12th February 2008) by Robert Vadra and the date of registration of the sale to DFL (18th September 2012), the agreement to sell was made within a few months after the purchase of the land by Robert Vadra in February 2008. This delay in registration after receiving 86.2% of the consideration as far back as October 2009 seems to be a deliberate ploy.
Mr.Khemka protested his transfer from the post of Director-General of Land Consolidation and Land Records-cum-Inspector-General of Registration. In a forthright letter to the Chief Secretary of Haryana, he minced no words: “It seems that this is deliberate and mala fide to punish me due to some vested elements in the political bureaucratic hierarchy affected by the exposure of the scam in Consolidation under the garb of exercise of powers.” Pretty straight talk it is, isn’t it?
Arvind Kejriwal asked the Haryana government whether an officer can be transferred simply because he probes the deals of Robert Vadra. The BJP said that the State Government had signified that anyone who “who questions the first family will not be spared.” The CPI(M) said that a thorough investigation must be made into the Vadra – DFL deals.
Predictably, the Congress party denied any witch-hunting and made a cliched defense of the transfer saying that it was the prerogative of the government to transfer any officer. The party doesn’t seem to realise that prerogatives cannot be exercised arbitrarily.
B.K. Hari Prasad, General Secretay of the party and looking after the affairs of the party in Haryana, rubbished the charge that Mr.Khemka had been transferred because of his probe into the Vadra _ DFL deals. He said: “The allegations are baseless. We do not question the integrity of the officer. It is the prerogative of the government to transfer any bureaucrat. The Chief Secretary will be able to brief about the reasons behind the transfer.”
Oh, yes, we heartily agree with Hari Prasad. Mr.Khemka’s integrity is not under question. Otherwise, he would not have been transferred. That Ashok Khemka has been transferred 43 times in 21 years (which works out to twice a year on an average!) speaks volumes for his inflexible integrity. Had he been dishonest, he would have faced disciplinary proceedings and/or prosecution; had he been incompetent, he wouldn’t have risen in his rank.
The state government issued a press release stating that Mr. Khemka had himself sought to be relieved of the charge of Special Collector in connection with a writ petition in the state High Court and that the Court asked, on 1st October 2012, the government to appoint another officer as Special Collector.
If the Court asked that another person be appointed as Special Collector in place of Mr.Khemka, why did the government remove him from the other post of Director-General of Land Consolidation and Land Records-cum-Inspector General of Registration as well?
If Mr.Khemka had sought to be divested of his post of Director-General of Land Consolidation and Land Records-cum-Inspector-General of Registration, he would not have written to the Chief Secretary protesting his transfer, would he? Obviously, the government’s statement is far from convincing.
Nor does the press release explain the timing of the transfer.No matter what the government of Haryana and the Congress Party in power there say, not many would hesitate to bet that the reasons behind Mr.Khemka’s transfer are suspect.
If one thinks that there is something fishy about the transfer of Mr.Khemka, one can’t be blamed. Who’s that murmuring there about rotten fish?!
Tags: Ashok Khemka Ashok Khemka Transferred Haryana Government transfers Official Probing Vadra - DFL Deals land dealings probe into Vadra - DFL Deals Robert Vadra Vadra - DFL Land Deals
