Divisional commissioner told to respond to Ashok Khemka's charges

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Chandigarh, June 20

Haryana Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal has asked Commissioner, Rohtak Division, Sanjeev Verma, to explain his position after Additional Chief Secretary, Archives, Printing and Stationery, Ashok Khemka, complained about his “personal accusatory letters”.

Both IAS officers Verma and Khemka have been at loggerheads over recruitment in the Haryana State Warehousing Corporation and had even got cases registered against each other in 2022.

On May 8, 2022, Verma wrote a demi-official (DO) letter to Khemka stating that it was unfortunate that since he had exposed irregularities in the corporation, he had been facing personal accusations from him. Verma said he had been uncompromising against corruption and irregularities and his intentions had never been to damage his reputation.

On September 20, Khemka’s office replied on his behalf, “It is observed that the contents of your DO letter are personal and do not relate to any official business. You are advised not to misuse official stationery and insignia to meet your personal ends. I am further directed to advise you to refrain from indulging in such correspondence in future.”

Verma hit back with another letter, dated October 3, 2022.

A letter to Verma from the CS office, dated June 6, mentions that Khemka had brought to the “notice of the Competent Authority that you should not write personal accusatory letters to your senior in official capacity”. “It has further been stated that your letters set a bad precedent of insubordination and indiscipline, and are an attempt to browbeat your senior…. You are, therefore, requested to explain your position in this regard,” it added.