India civil servant at centre of Delhi stadium row appointed civic body chief

IAS officer Sanjeev Khirwar, who came under intense scrutiny in 2022 after athletes were reportedly asked to vacate Delhi’s Thyagraj Stadium so he could walk his dog, has been appointed Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), according to a notification issued by the Central Government on Wednesday.

The appointment marks Khirwar’s return to Delhi nearly four years after he was transferred out of the capital following the controversy.

“Exercising powers conferred by Section 54 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, the Central Government has appointed Sanjeev Khirwar, IAS (AGMUT:1994), as Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi,” the notification said.

Khirwar, a 1994-batch AGMUT cadre officer, will take over from Ashwani Kumar, a 1992-batch IAS officer who was appointed MCD Commissioner in 2024.

Khirwar was in the national spotlight in May 2022 after reports emerged that athletes training at the Delhi government-run Thyagraj Stadium were asked to wrap up their sessions early to allow the officer to walk his dog on the track.

The incident triggered widespread criticism and led the Ministry of Home Affairs to seek a factual report from the Delhi Chief Secretary. Soon after, Khirwar was transferred to the Union Territory of Ladakh, while his wife, IAS officer Rinku Dugga, was moved to Arunachal Pradesh.

MHA sources had said at the time that further action would be initiated based on the findings of the report submitted by the Delhi government.

Following his transfer, Khirwar served as Secretary in the Union Territory of Ladakh from 2022 to 2026.

Before the controversy, he held several senior positions in the Delhi government, including Principal Secretary (Revenue) and Divisional Commissioner. He also held additional charge as Environment Secretary.

Earlier in his career, Khirwar served as Private Secretary to former Union Minister Krishna Tirath between 2009 and 2014. He was later posted in the Commerce Ministry and returned to Delhi in 2018 as Secretary in the Health and Family Welfare department.

With his latest appointment, Khirwar assumes charge of one of the country’s largest municipal bodies, overseeing civic administration across wide swathes of the national capital.