File photo of IAS officer Ashok Khemka
Ashok Khemka, the Haryana bureaucrat who alleged that he was persecuted for cancelling a land deal involving Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra, will no longer face charges of "professional misconduct" in the case. A charge-sheet filed against him by the previous Congress government has been dropped, say sources.
Mr Khemka was accused by the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government of misusing his powers by cancelling the sale of 3.5 acres of land in Gurgaon near Delhi by Mr Vadra's company to real estate giant DLF for Rs. 58 crore.
An auditor's report had said the Congress bent rules to enable windfall gains for Mr Vadra's company. The report was ignored by the Congress government, which set up its own inquiry and then charge-sheeted Mr Khemka for "causing damage to Mr Vadra's reputation" and "illegally" cancelling the deal.
In the three years since the case emerged, the 50-year-old became one of India's most transferred officers.
The BJP, which took power in Haryana a year ago, came out in Mr Khemka's support while targeting Mr Vadra and the Congress.
When transfer number 45 came in April in the BJP regime, Mr Khemka tweeted that the moment was "truly painful" for him. Mr Khemka was then removed as Transport Commissioner and shifted to the low profile Archaeology and Museums Department, the same department to which the previous Congress government had moved him.