IAS officer Sanjeev Khirwar, who made headlines in 2022 after being accused of getting Delhi's Thyagraj Stadium cleared to walk his dog, is once again facing scrutiny. Reappointed as the Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) by the Centre in January this year, Khirwar is now under fire following the building collapse in South-West Delhi's Satya Niketan. The collapse incident, which resulted in six deaths and several injuries, has triggered calls for his resignation.

The MCD Office at Civic Centre was vandalised during the protest by members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) over the Satya Niketan building collapse incident on Sunday. The protesters were demanding the resignation of the MCD Commissioner and were later detained by the police.

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"We have been here since yesterday. A building has collapsed in Satya Niketan, and students have died. A lot of students are still being rescued, and this is a very tragic thing that has happened. We are sitting here in solidarity,” said National Social Media Convenor, ABVP, Prerna Bhardwaj on Monday morning, as quoted by ANI.

“We had a protest yesterday at the MCD office as well, and we demanded the resignation of the MCD Commissioner. We are all sitting here, and we are demanding accountability. What is the actual standard of student safety on the campus? That is our question, and we are not standing up from here until the last student is rescued,” she added.

According to the police, cited by news agency PTI, around 150 to 200 ABVP members gathered at the MCD headquarters. Officials said the protesters entered the civic centre through gate No 5 and staged a demonstration outside the main building, raising slogans and demanding accountability from the MCD.

Who Is Sanjeev Khirwar

Khirwar, a 1994 AGMUT cadre officer, was transferred to Ladakh in 2022 after controversy
erupted over him emptying out the Thyagraj stadium to walk his dog. Khirwar served as the Secretary in Ladakh UT from 2022 to 2026.

In January 2026, Khirwar had overtaken 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. He also held the additional charge of the Environment Secretary in the Delhi government.

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In May of 2022, the Ministry of Home Affairs transferred Khirwar and his wife Rinku Dugga, the Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre IAS officers out of Delhi as punishment for their act. He was transferred to Ladakh, while his wife was transferred to Arunachal Pradesh. The MHA took the action soon after Delhi Chief Secretary submitted a report to it in the evening on the factual position of the then news report.

Khirwar 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. Over the past few years, he has been posted in the environment, general administration and revenue departments.

(With Agency Inputs)