IAS officer at centre of Delhi stadium dog-walking row is new MCD commissioner

Sanjeev Khirwar is back to Delhi’s administrative corridors, three years after being shunted out over a controversy while he was Delhi’s Principal Secretary (Revenue) in 2022. The senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer has been appointed Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) — one of the key civic administrative positions in the national capital.

Khirwar became widely known — and criticised — due to a major controversy in 2022 when, as Delhi’s Principal Secretary (Revenue), he was accused of having athletes at the government-run Thyagraj Stadium asked to wrap up their practice early so that he could walk his dog on the premises.

“We used to train till 8-8.30 pm under lights earlier. But now, we are asked to leave the ground by 7 pm so that the officer can walk his dog on the ground. Our training and practice routine has been disrupted," a report in the Indian Express had quoted a coach as saying.