IAS officer Ashok Khemka, known for integrity and 57 transfers, to retire on Wednesday

Chandigarh: Ashok Khemka, a senior IAS officer widely recognised for his integrity throughout a 34-year-long administrative career marked by 57 transfers, is set to retire on Wednesday.

A 1991-batch officer of the Haryana cadre, Khemka will conclude his service as the Additional Chief Secretary in the Transport Department, a post he was assigned in December 2024.

Khemka gained national prominence in 2012 when he annulled the mutation of a land deal in Gurugram linked to Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi. The mutation is a legal step in transferring land ownership.

Born in Kolkata on April 30, 1965, Khemka holds a BTech in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Kharagpur (1988), a PhD in Computer Science from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, and an MBA in Business Administration and Finance. While in service, he also earned an LLB from Panjab University.

Known for his frequent transfers — 57 in total — Khemka returned to the Transport Department in December 2024, nearly a decade after being removed from the same department during the first term of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s BJP-led government. Back then, he had served only four months as Transport Commissioner.

In 2023, Khemka wrote to the Chief Minister offering to take charge of the Vigilance Department, expressing a strong desire to combat corruption. "Towards the end of my service career, I offer my services to head the vigilance department to root out corruption," he wrote in a letter dated January 23, 2023.

He further stated, "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."

Khemka pointed out the imbalance in work distribution within departments, writing, "Lopsided distribution of work does not serve public interest." At the time, he was posted in the Archives Department, which he claimed lacked substantial work, even as other officers were burdened with multiple responsibilities.

After a round of promotions for his batchmates to Secretary-level positions in the Government of India two years ago, Khemka expressed his mixed feelings in a tweet: "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 12 years, Khemka has predominantly served in departments considered low profile. His transfer history averages out to a new posting roughly every six months. His four tenures in the Archives Department — three of which were under the current BJP-led administration — highlight this pattern. He earlier served there as Director General and later as Principal Secretary, with the first stint beginning in 2013 during the Congress government.