ACS (Revenue) to probe complaints related to IAS officers Ashok Khemka, Sanjeev Verma

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Chandigarh, November 28

Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) and Financial Commissioner, Revenue and Disaster Management and Consolidation Departments, TVSN Prasad, will now conduct an inquiry on all complaint matters related to ACS, Archives, Printing and Stationery Department, Ashok Khemka, and Commissioner, Rohtak Division, Sanjeev Verma.

Both Khemka and Verma have levelled a number of allegations against each other over the past 18 months.

In addition to allegations levelled by them against each other, Prasad, who is also an ACS, Home, will look into the “falsification of vehicle logbook entries”, “misuse of a government vehicle”, and “bogus hiring of outsourcing employees” in the Archives Department, says an order issued by Personnel Department on November 22. These refer to the allegations against Verma.

Vide his letter dated May 14, 2022, Khemka alleged false entries in the logbook of a department’s vehicle from July 17, 2019, to January 31, 2020, by 10 Group C officials on the directions of the then Director Sanjeev Verma.

Against Khemka, Verma has levelled allegations of fraudulent appointment of Deputy Director in the Archaeology and Museums Department, vide his letter dated April 10, 2023, and fraudulent recruitment on nine posts at the Haryana Space Application Centre (HARSAC), vide a letter dated April 12, 2023.

During his tenure as the Managing Director of Haryana State Warehousing Corporation, Verma had sent two complaints against Khemka to the police in April 2022 over alleged illegal appointments during his previous tenure. The one against the appointment of two Manager Grade-I officials was converted into an FIR no. 170 on April 26, 2022, at the Sector 5 police station, Panchkula. But the police also registered FIR No. 171 against Verma and one Ravinder Kumar the same day, for alleged tampering with records, after the intervention of Home Minister Anil Vij. Later, the Prevention of Corruption Act was also pressed against Verma in the case. Khemka had approached the HC against FIR no. 170 against him, where Haryana had submitted that no sanction under Section 17 A of the Prevention of Corruption (Amended) Act 2018 had been granted and for proceeding further in the case, a 10-day notice would be given to him. The HC had disposed of the case on November 29, 2022..