Now take Vadra land case to logical conclusion
With the Government of Haryana dropping the chargesheet against Mr Ashok Khemka, the whistleblower IAS officer's long running feud with establishment powers in the Robert Vadra-DlF land grab case has finally come to a close. The chargesheet, filed by the previous Congress Government of Bhupinder Singh Hooda, which has been found to be lacking in merit by the incumbent BJP regime led by Chief Minister Manohar lal Khattar, was the last remaining stain on Mr Khemka's otherwise impeccable reputation. And now, that has been wiped clean.
An upright and honest bureaucrat who has disposed his duties as a public servant with integrity throughout his two-decade long career in the civil services, Mr Khemka had been no stranger to controversy stemming from clashes with vested interests and a corrupt administrative structure. After all, he hadn't been transferred around the system for more than 45 times for nothing. Still, taking on the son-in-law of the Nehru-Gandhi family was unlike any other challenge he had faced. For months, he was harassed and hounded, and his reputation sullied.
There was a concerted effort to show that he was leading a motivated campaign against Mr Robert Vadra, ostensibly for his own 15 minutes of fame. The chargesheet itself accused Mr Khemka of overstepping his administrative boundaries. It said that he had held on to his Revenue Department job for four days even after he had been transferred and used that time to cancel the mutation of the controversial deal between Mr Vadra's M/s Skylight Hospitality and real estate giant DlF Universal ltd; that the cancellation was not within his jurisdiction; that he had passed errroneous orders and made unnecessary suggestions to the Town and Country Planning department about what should have been done before the renewal of Mr Vadra's Change of land Use licence. He also faced flak for criticising Government policy in the media and allegedly violating All India Service (Conduct) Rules. And that was not all. Apart from the chargesheet, Mr Khemka faced death threats and even his decisions at past postings, particularly as the Managing Director of the Haryana Seed Development Corporation, came under scrutiny. But he didn't cower or step back. Instead, he played by the book, explained his decisions in a systematic manner and had his name cleared.
But while Mr Khemka can now close the Vadra chapter, the Government of Haryana cannot afford to put a lid on the issues raised by the bureaucrat. An investigative committee set up by the previous regime, following much outrage by the Opposition which was then led by the BJP, had given a clean chit to the Rs58 crore land deal. However, a report published by the Comptroller and Auditor-General in May this year pointed fingers at the previous Congress regime in Haryana for possibly giving undue favours to Mr Vadra and also questioned the circumstances under which Skylight Hospitality received Government permissions. Clearly, there is more to this deal than what meets the eye, and the Government must investigate to ensure that the truth is revealed. This must not be misconstrued as a call for some sort of a witch-hunt against Mr Vadra or DlF — but simply that the authorities must ensure that the law of the land is upheld.