E-Paper
Khemka twisting facts, presented ineligible persons before us, says former IAS
Former Haryana IAS officer Roshan Lal, who was the chairman of a committee which interviewed candidates for selection in the Haryana State Warehousing Corporation (HSWC) when IAS officer Ashok Khemka was HSWC managing director, said Khemka had appointed ineligible candidates on the posts of manager (grade-I) on extraneous considerations
Former Haryana IAS officer Roshan Lal, who was the chairman of a committee which interviewed candidates for selection in the Haryana State Warehousing Corporation (HSWC) when IAS officer Ashok Khemka was HSWC managing director, said Khemka had appointed ineligible candidates on the posts of manager (grade-I) on extraneous considerations.
In a communication to Haryana chief secretary, Lal alleged that Khemka also cheated the members of the interview committee by presenting ineligible candidates before them for interview and thus, also committed a breach of trust. Khemka, when contacted, refused to comment on Lal’s communication saying the matter is sub judice.
“As appointing authority of managers (grade-I), he deliberately and with a criminal intent did not get the experience certificates of the recommended candidates verified as he did in the case of Rajesh Kumar, recommended by HSSC for the post of manager (grade-III). Since serious allegations including that of corruption have been levelled against Khemka and others in the FIR (number 170) of April 26, 2022 and that a counter FIR (number 171) has been registered against the present MD and others with the intervention of the Haryana home minister, propriety demands that both the FIRs be transferred to some independent investigating agency like the CBI for a fair and impartial investigation,” Lal said in a May 12 communication.
Immediately after registration of the criminal case against him, Khemka started twisting the facts of the case with a view to cover up his illegal and dubious acts and with the motive of shifting the entire responsibility of making the said recruitments on to the interview/executive committee, the communication said.
Lal said Khemka has tried to shift the entire responsibility on the interview committee. The unsuspecting members of the interview committee were in fact taken for a ride by him by presenting ineligible candidates before them for interview. This seems to have been done by him with an ulterior motive and with a criminal intent.
His contention that he was bound by the recommendations of the interview committee which also assigned marks for experience to the candidates is totally without substance as he being the appointing authority should himself have checked the original documents of the recommended candidates and got their experience certificates verified.
He also wrote that the state government should also grant approval under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 for investigation of the FIR against Khemka at the earliest so that the guilty are brought to justice.
Lal said he had also conducted an enquiry into the galvalume sheet scam and had sent his report as the principal secretary, agriculture to the chief secretary in 2013 as “undue favour had been shown to Proflex Systems, Ahmedabad by Ashok Khemka in awarding contracts for a total amount of ₹18.04 crore on extraneous considerations.”
“After consideration of the said enquiry report, the chief minister on January 10, 2014 had ordered that the matter be referred to the CBI for investigation. Thus, it is high time that the galvalume sheet scam is also referred to the CBI for investigation so that the truth comes out,” Lal wrote.
