Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has cancelled Puja Khedkar’s selection as a trainee IAS officer and barred her from taking the Civil Services Examination (CSE) for life. This decision comes after Khedkar was found guilty of faking her identity to attempt the exam multiple times, violating the examination rules.
The UPSC issued a statement revealing that Khedkar fraudulently availed attempts beyond the permissible limit. A Show Cause Notice (SCN) was sent to her on July 18, 2024, citing her misuse of identity to exceed the allowed number of attempts. Although Khedkar, 34, was given time until July 30 to respond, she failed to do so within the prescribed period.
Despite the extension granted as a final opportunity, Khedkar did not submit her explanation, prompting the UPSC to cancel her provisional candidature for CSE-2022 and impose a permanent ban on her from all future UPSC examinations and selections.
In light of Khedkar’s case, the UPSC scrutinized records of over 15,000 candidates who cleared the IAS screening process between 2009 and 2023. No other candidate was found to have exceeded the permitted attempts. The UPSC highlighted that Khedkar’s use of multiple identities, including changes to her name and parents’ names, had bypassed the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in place.
The UPSC is now working to strengthen its SOP to prevent such cases in the future. It clarified that it conducts only preliminary scrutiny of certificates submitted by candidates, relying on competent authorities to verify their authenticity.
Khedkar’s troubles began in June when Pune Collector Suhas Diwase flagged her demands for perks she was not entitled to during her probation. This led to her transfer to Washim and subsequent scrutiny of her selection. Investigations revealed that Khedkar availed relaxed criteria for OBC candidates and persons with disabilities, despite not qualifying for these categories.
Further controversies emerged as her father, a former Maharashtra government officer, was found to possess property worth ?40 crores, disqualifying Khedkar from the OBC non-creamy layer tag. Additionally, she failed to undergo a mandatory health check-up to confirm her disability exemption. Her mother, Manorama Khedkar, was arrested after a video surfaced showing her brandishing a gun to threaten people. Her father is also under investigation for owning assets disproportionate to his income.
