22 January,2026 12:36 PM IST | New Delhi | mid-day online correspondent
IAS Sanjeev Khirwar has been appointed as Municipal Corporation of Delhi Commissioner. (Pic/Screengrab from X)
IAS officer Sanjeev Khirwar, who had stirred controversy in 2022 for emptying Delhi's Thyagraj Stadium to walk his dog, has been appointed as the Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), according to a notification issued by the Central Government.
The notification issued by the Central Government stated, "Exercising powers conferred by Section 54 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, the Central Government has appointed Sanjeev Khirwar, LAS (AGMUT:1994), as Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi," as cited by news agency ANI.
Khirwar, who has now been appointed as the new MCD Commissioner, is a 1994 AGMUT cadre officer. He came to the limelight earlier in 2022 after controversy erupted over him emptying out a stadium to walk his dog at Thyagraj Stadium. Khirwar had also served as the Private Secretary to the Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath between 2009 and 2014. He was then posted at the Commerce Ministry and transferred to Delhi in 2018 as the Secretary of Health and Family Welfare.
The 1994-batch IAS officer was transferred to Ladakh after controversy erupted over him emptying out a stadium to walk his dog at Thyagraj Stadium. After Khirwar was transferred to Ladakh, he served as the Secretary in Ladakh UT for four years. Khirwar in 2022 allegedly forced the athletes to vacate the stadium to walk his dog at the Delhi government-run Thyagraj Stadium. While Sanjeev was transferred to Ladakh, his wife was sent on exile to Arunachal Pradesh.
The Home Affairs Ministry took the action soon after the Delhi Chief Secretary submitted a report to it in the evening on the factual position of the then news report.
However, after his exile in Ladakh, Sanjeev Khirwar will now be overtaking Ashwani Kumar, a 1992 AGMUT cadre IAS officer appointed in 2024 as MCD Commissioner. While in Delhi, Khirwar served as Principal Secretary (Revenue) and the Divisional Commissioner.
Ashwani Kumar has also held the additional charge of the Environment Secretary in the Delhi government.
Earlier in May of 2022, the Ministry of Home Affairs, along with Sanjeev Khirwar and his wife Rinku Dugga, also transferred the Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre IAS officers out of Delhi as punishment for their act, as reported by ANI.
Sanjeev Khirwar was in the middle of the controversy. The sources from the Home Ministry said, "The MHA had sought a report from the Chief Secretary, Delhi, on the news report regarding the misuse of facilities at Thyagraj Stadium by Sanjeev Khirwar and his wife, Rinku Dugga. The Chief Secretary, Delhi, submitted a report later in the evening on the factual position to the MHA. In the meantime, Khirwar has been transferred by MHA to Ladakh and Dhugga to Arunachal Pradesh. Necessary action will be initiated based on the report," as per ANI.
(With inputs from ANI)
