Most-Transferred IAS Officer Ashok Khemka Retires

Senior IAS officer Ashok Khemka, renowned for his integrity throughout his nearly 34-year career marked by 57 transfers, retired today, Wednesday. The 1991-batch officer concludes his service as Additional Chief Secretary of the Transport Department in Haryana, a position he assumed in December 2024.

A Haryana cadre officer, Khemka gained national prominence in 2012 when he cancelled the mutation of a Gurugram land deal linked to Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi. Mutation is a crucial step in the land ownership transfer process.

Khemka's career is marked by an unusually high number of transfers -- 57 in total -- averaging one every six months, likely the most by any bureaucrat in Haryana. Over the past 12 years, Khemka has largely been assigned to departments regarded as 'low-profile.' He has been posted to the Archives Department on four occasions, once under the Congress government in 2013 and three times during the BJP regime, serving first as Director General and later as Principal Secretary.

Over two years ago, following a round of promotions of IAS officers, Khemka had tweeted, “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”.

Born in Kolkata in 1965, Khemka holds a Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Kharagpur (1988), a PhD in Computer Science from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), and an MBA with specialisations in Business Administration and Finance. Demonstrating a commitment to continuous learning, he also earned an LLB from Panjab University while serving.