News Politics National Land lease to Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust in Gurgaon haunts Hooda govt in Haryana

Land lease to Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust in Gurgaon haunts Hooda govt in Haryana

Chandigarh, April 6: The controversial lease of over five acres of prime land near Delhi suburb Gurgaon for a super-specialty eye hospital to be set up by the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust (RGCT) continues to

Last October, senior IAS officer Ashok Khemka had ordered a scrutiny of land deals of Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra and cancelled the mutation of a multi-crore-rupee land deal between Vadra's company Sky Light Hospitality and realty giant DLF. He also ordered a probe into all land deals done by Vadra and his companies in Haryana's Gurgaon, Faridabad, Mewat and Palwal districts since 2005.



After Khemka's action Oct 8, the Hooda government went into an overdrive and within days, the authorities of the four districts gave a "clean chit" to the land deals.

The Hooda government set up a committee to look into the action taken by Khemka. The committee held that Khemka's actions as director-general of land consolidation were not in accordance with laid down procedures.

Khemka questioned the rationale of the committee in submitting its report without even seeking his views on the action taken in the land deals.

Khemka was removed from his post Oct 11, with the government projecting it as a routine transfer. He was shifted as managing director of the Haryana Seeds Development Corp (HSDC), from where he was moved Thursday to the inconsequential post of secretary of Haryana Archives.

Khemka has been transferred almost 45 times in his two-decade-long career as an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer.