On Tuesday, an unprecedented development took place in Haryana: Home Minister Anil Vij accompanied a senior IAS officer to a deputy police commissioner’s office to complain against another IAS officer. Eventually, two first information reports were registered against the two IAS officers-2004-batch officer Sanjeev Verma and 1991-batch officer Ashok Khemka-on each other’s complaints. The Indian Express explains the significance of Vij’s open support for Khemka. What is the controversy about? The issue pertains to a 12-year-old appointment of two officers of manager grade-I to the Haryana State Warehousing Corporation (HSWC) when Khemka was its managing director. A Panchkula resident, Ravinder Kumar, has alleged irregularities in these appointments since 2016. The Panchkula police investigated his complaint on the directions of Lokayukta in 2016 and found no merit in it. Sajeev Verma says the roster was not followed in the appointments and that the two officers did not possess the required qualification and experience. How did the matter come to light now? Verma was transferred as HSWC managing director on April 8. He holds additional charge of the divisional commissioner of Kanal, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s constituency. On April 11, Ravinder Kumar, who had been filing complaints against Khemka for the past several years but in vain, sent a legal notice to the HSWC. An inquiry was ordered by Verma. On April 20, he sent a reference to the Panchkula police seeking an FIR against Khemka and a few retired HSWC officials under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code. He also wrote to Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal seeking “strict disciplinary proceedings” against Khemka. However, the police did not register an FIR on the complaint. “Section 17-A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, as amended in 2018, provides that there cannot be any inquiry without the prior approval of the appropriate authority. The police have thus decided to forward it to me to take an appropriate decision. Once it reaches me, we shall examine and take a decision,” Kaushal had told The Indian Express. Why does Vij accompanying Khemka raise eyebrows? Although Vij is known for rebuking police officers for delays in action, it is unprecedented for a home minister to accompany an IAS officer and openly come out in his or her support. Even while out of power, Vij had openly supported Khemka andcastigated the Congress for transferring the IAS officer repeatedly. However, the sequence of events—the divisional commissioner in Khattar’s constituency gets posted as HSWC managing director, digs out an old complaint, constitutes a fact-finding inquiry and concludes it within a week—hints at the possibility of somebody backing Verma too. Vij’s open support is also being seen as a clear message to the lobby that might be working against Khemka. Who is Ravinder Kumar? Khemka says Ravinder Kumar, the Panchkula resident, has a personal grudge against him because he had taken disciplinary action against his father Nafe Singh, who was found guilty of misappropriating the Food Corporation of India’s rice stocks. The Lokayukta had also made adverse remarks against Kumar in its July 10, 2017 and October 10, 2017 reports. Between Verma and Khemka Khemka says Verma too has a personal grudge against him. It is learnt that Khemka referred Verma’s alleged misconduct in engaging people and his abuse of office to the chief secretary in 2020, when he was the former’s subordinate. What are the two officers accusing each other of? Verma is accusing Khemka of irregularities in appointments of the two officials. However, Khemka is not only rejecting the accusations on the basis of official file notings and official records, but also accusing Verma of hatching a criminal conspiracy with Kumar to pursue a personal grudge. What are the specifics regarding the appointments in question? Verma wrote in his note to the chief secretary and to the police that the HSWC had advertised for 10 manager grade-I posts—five in the general category, two in the scheduled caste category and one each in the ex-servicemen, backward classes A and B categories. Only 13 of the 103 applicants were interviewed and only six of them were appointed. As per the roster, the six had to be from the general, SC and BC-A categories, according to Verma. However, among the six, Surinder Singh and Pradip Kumar Gupta belonged to the ex-servicemen category and Het Ram to the BC-Bcategory. Pradip Kumar Gupta and Surinder Singh did not possess the requisite qualification and experience, Verma’s complaint alleged. Documents show that Khemka, the HSWC managing director then, was only one of the executive committee members that selected the two officials. It was a screening committee that found the 13 applicants eligible. Khemka ordered the constitution of an interview committee. Then Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda ordered the HSWC executive committee to conduct interviews on January 31, 2010. This committee was chaired by IAS officer Roshan Lal and had Khemka, another IAS officer Ashok Kumar Yadav, IRS officer Kusum and another officer, SS Sood, as members. Surinder Singh and Pradip Kumar, the ex-servicemen category candidates, figured in the general merit list “because of the high marks they received during the interview and the screening process”. All five members of the executive committee cleared their selection. Thus for the 10 vacancies, six candidates were selected—five in the general category and one in the BC-A category. Two of the candidates did not join while another left the job later. Of the remaining three, Surinder Singh and Pradip Kumar were terminated by Verma. Newsletter | Click to get the day's best explainers in your inbox
