Ashok Khemka has alleged that other government officers colluded to sell over-priced seeds to the government firm. (File photo)
Senior bureaucrat Ashok Khemka, known best for challenging the land dealings of Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law, Robert Vadra, has been accused by the Haryana government of a multitude of failures including dereliction of duty. Yet, it is this whistle-blower's alert that has driven the CBI to investigate an alleged scam in the state-run Haryana Seed Development Corporation, where Mr Khemka served as Managing Director from late last year to April.
He has alleged that other government officers colluded to sell over-priced seeds to the government firm, resulting in a loss of nearly five crores.
The Haryana government, headed by Bhupinder Hooda, has cleared two chargesheets for Mr Khemka, one of which accuses him of failing his responsibilities at HSDC by being unable to sell enough seeds. His supporters say this is retributive action because Mr Khemka did not get the government's clearance before alerting the CBI to the alleged corruption in the company.
The first chargesheet says he exercised powers he did not have by cancelling a 57-crore land deal between Mr Vadra and real estate behemoth DLF in 2008.
Mr Khemka, who at the time headed the department that handled all land registrations, had said that the deal was mired in irregularities designed for windfall gains for the entrepreneur.
He was transferred just days later, and his decision was then over-ruled by the government, which said his allegations against Mr Vadra and DLF were unsubstantiated.
Mr Khemka is currently posted in Chandigarh as the Director General of Archives. His sources say he is being punished by the Congress government in Haryana for taking on Mr Vadra.