Senior IAS officer Ashok Khemka, known for his stand against corruption, will superannuate on Wednesday, concluding a tumultuous yet principled career spanning nearly 34 years and marked by 57 postings.

A 1991-batch IAS officer of the Haryana cadre, Khemka rose to 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 the process involved in transferring ownership of land, and the cancellation of Vadra brought political attention to Khemka’s career.

Born in Kolkata on April 30, 1965, Khemka pursued his Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Kharagpur, and graduated in 1988.

He later earned a PhD in Computer Science from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), followed by an MBA with a specialisation in Business Administration and Finance.

While in office, he also completed an LLB from Panjab University.

Khemka’s career has been singular for the sheer number of transfers — 57 in total.

Averaging a transfer every six months, his postings often reflected political discomfort with his uncompromising approach.

In December 2024, Khemka was appointed as additional chief secretary in the Haryana transport department — a return to a department he had last served a decade earlier.

His earlier tenure as transport commissioner had ended in the first term of the BJP government led by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, four months into the role.

The department is now headed by transport minister Anil Vij.

In 2023, Khemka had written to chief minister Khattar offering to serve in the vigilance department to combat corruption.

“Lopsided distribution of work does not serve public interest,” he wrote in a letter dated January 23, 2023.

He noted that some officers were overloaded while others, like himself, had postings with insufficient work — at the time, he was handling the Archives Department.

“Towards the end of my service career, I offer my services to head the vigilance department to root out corruption,” the letter read. “If given an opportunity, I assure you there would be a real war against corruption and no one however high and mighty will be spared.”

Despite multiple attempts to serve in impactful roles, Khemka spent much of the last 12 years in departments considered "low profile."

He was posted to the archives department four times — three of those during the BJP’s tenure.

He had served as both director general and later principal secretary of the department, having first been transferred there in 2013 under the Congress government.

In a social media post following a round of bureaucratic promotions over two years ago, Khemka reflected on being overlooked: “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 concluded with dignity: “Straight trees are always cut first. No regrets. With renewed resolve, I shall persist.”