After a career spanning 34 years and 71 transfers, IAS officer Pradeep Kasni, known for his honesty, retires today. Kasni said that he did not receive his salary for the last six months, as reported by News18.

During his last transfer, he was posted as the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Haryana Land Use Board. But he realised that something was off as there were no documents, files or staff for the Board. In an RTI reply, it was revealed that the board was defunct for a long time. Hence he is retiring without his last six months of pay.

Kasni has appealed to the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), which will decide on the case on March 8, as reported by News18.

The Land Use Board was first introduced under Department of Environment and later moved under the Department of Agriculture. The Department of agriculture then suggested to the Board that they wanted to make the shut down the board and it was accepted. The Board has been defunct since 2008.

The story of transfers

Kasni is now fighting a legal battle against the government and he will continue fighting after his retirement too. His wife Neelam Kasni worked as ADC to the Haryana governor and retired last year. He was transferred te maximum time under the Congress rule but during the BJP regime

He has been transferred 12 times, thrice in September 2016.

Kasni had told the media following his retirement that the Khattar government had assured that officers will not be transferred before two years. “The officers are responsible for their work and if there is any dereliction then disciplinary action can be taken against them. Still, if there was a need to transfer officers before two years, then civil services board were to be constituted and only on their recommendation were such transfers to take place. These boards were also supposed to tell whey the transfers were necessary,” according to The Wire.

Similarly, whistleblower IAS officer Ashok Khemka who refused mutation of Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra’s illegal land deal in Gurgaon has been transferred 51 times in the last 24 years.

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