Senior IAS officer Ashok Khemka, renowned for his integrity, will retire on Wednesday (Apr 30) after a distinguished 34-year career, which witnessed 57 postings.

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Khemka, a 1991-batch IAS officer, will retire as Additional Chief Secretary in the Transport Department on Wednesday. He was appointed to this role in December 2024.

The Haryana-cadre IAS officer gained national attention in the year 2012 for cancelling a land deal in Gurugram linked to Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi.

A mutation is a step in transferring land ownership, updating records to reflect the new owner.

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Khemka was born in Kolkata on April 30, 1965. He holds a B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering degree from IIT Kharagpur (1988), a PhD in Computer Science from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), and an MBA in Business Administration and Finance.

During his tenure, he also completed his LLB from Panjab University.

After witnessing 57 transfers in his career - likely the most in the state's bureaucracy, Khemka was reappointed to the transport department last December, which at present is being handled by Minister Anil Vij.  

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His return came nearly a decade after he was transferred out as transport commissioner during the BJP government under Manohar Lal Khattar's first term.

At the time of his removal, Khemka had been in the transport department for only four months.

In the year 2023, he wrote a letter to Khattar and offered to "root out corruption" with a stint in the vigilance department.

Khemka stated that his zeal to combat corruption had come at the cost of his service career. 

In the letter dated January 23, 2023, Mr Khemka wrote, "Lopsided distribution of work does not serve public interest." "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 a real war against corruption and no one however high and mighty will be spared," the IAS officer had written.

After a round of promotions over two years back, Mr Khemka 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, Mr Khemka has been posted in departments considered "low profile." Over his entire career, on average, he has been transferred about every six months.