Khemka twisting facts, presented ineligible persons: EX-IAS officer

CHANDIGARH: 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 (gradeiii). 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.