Khemka Vs Dhillon, Roshan Lal: Will Haryana IAS war take more twists?

WHISTLE-BLOWER Haryana IAS Ashok Khemka, against whom the state government recently filed two charge-sheets, has accused two of his seniors belonging to 1984 batch, SS Dhillon and Roshan Lal, of “ganging up” against him and “cooking things to suit their own personal interests”. Only recently, Dhillon who is principal secretary to chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, told news channels about the specific charges against Khemka. Many within the corridors fear that…
fights among top bureaucrats through newspapers and news channels, if spread to other states and the Centre, could lead to a turbulent phase of animosity and mistrust within the administration, prompting bureaucrats going slower further in taking major decisions.
In an 11-page letter dated October 21, 2013 and addressed to Haryana chief secretary, Khemka, a 1991 batch IAS, said it was not difficult to see what’s the real crime or misdemeanour for which he was being punished. “My biggest ‘crime’ of course was my cancellation of the mutation by Shri Robert Vadra’s Sky Light Hospitality to DLF Universal on15th October, 2012,” Khemka wrote. Vadra is son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, and the state of Haryana is ruled by the same party.
But in the same letter with a subject called “News item in The Indian Express, Dainik Bhaaskar, The Times of India on another charge sheet”, Khemka questioned the eligibility of SS Dhillon to be posted as a principal secretary to chief minister. Here is an excerpt of Khemka’s October 21 letter: “Mr. S.S.Dhillon and Mr. Roshan Lal, friends and batchmates, have good reasons to nurse a deep animosity towards me. Both friends seem to have ganged up now against me and are cooking things to suit their own personal interests. It is submitted that Mr. S.S.Dhillon was ex-facie not suitable for appointment to the post of Principal Secretary to Chief Minister on 1st April, 2013 when Mr. Chhattar Singh was re-employed on the post for a period of 3 months….”
But Dhillon was appointed to the post of PS to CM after Chhattar Singh resigned to join as an UPSC Member. “It can thus be reasonably inferred that Mr. Dhillon must have acquired some “special qualifications” during this period to be adjudged suitable for appointment to the post of Principal Secretary to Chief Minister,” Khemka wrote sarcastically.
In the same letter to chief secretary, Khemka accused another IAS, Roshan Lal of indulging in corruption. “Specific references of corrupt acts of Mr. Roshan Lal were brought to the notice of your office, but unfortunately there is no action. The list of references made against specific acts of corruption and other misconducts of Mr. Roshan Lal were brought to the notice of your office and are enumerated in the Table below…”, the letter then lists out the specific charges in a table format. Khemka was transferred out of Haryana Seeds Development Corporation in April this year, reportedly on a complaint made by Lal. Khemka even mentioned in the letter that Lal “had illegally used Rs 54,223-worth of talk time on the Corporation’s mobile phone”.
No rebuttals from Dhillon and Lal are available in public domain at the time of filing this report.
In Haryana circle, Lal is also known as a singer. YouTube videos have live performances of Lal singing Rafi songs.