NEW DELHI:
UPSC has issued probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar a show-cause notice, asking why her candidature in the 2022 civil services exam should not be cancelled, in which case she would cease to be part of the IAS and be barred from all future competitive exams, report Rajshekhar Jha & Bharti Jain.
Delhi crime branch will also investigate how Khedkar got an MBBS seat at Pune’s Shrimati Kashibai Navale Medical College by availing reservation in the ‘Nomadic Tribe-3‘ category.
Based on UPSC’s complaint, police have slapped IPC sections 420 (cheating), 464 (making a document in the name of a fictitious person), 465 (forgery) and 471 (passing off a forged document as genuine) on Puja. She additionally faces charges under sections 89 and 91 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act and 66D of the Information Technology Act.
Officials said IPC had been invoked as the alleged offences were committed before the new criminal laws took effect on July 1.
“UPSC has conducted a detailed and thorough investigation into the misdemeanour of Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar…She fraudulently availed attempts beyond the permissible limit under the examination rules by faking her identity by way of changing her name, her father’s and mother’s names, her photograph/signature, her email ID, mobile number and address,” UPSC said.
In 2021, Khedkar cleared the mains and was supposed to undergo a medical test at AIIMS, which she allegedly ran away from to avoid being caught faking disability. “The next year, she again appeared for the exam, using a fake certificate. Even before the results appeared, she applied for UPSC 2023,” an officer said, quoting from UPSC’s complaint.
The complaint alleges that Khedkar showed her parents Dilip and Manorama Khedkar as having separated, so that their assets could be segregated and she could apply for a fake income certificate. Manorama was arrested Thursday in a different criminal case.
An official said the inquiry being conducted by the department of personnel and training (DoPT) into Khedkar’s candidature was on track and the report should be ready in two weeks. The DoPT committee’s report is likely to echo the findings of UPSC’s investigation into Khedkar’s “misdemeanours”, including the false OBC and disability claims that paved the way for her entry into the civil services.
“UPSC stringently adheres to its constitutional mandate, and conducts all its processes, including all examinations, with the highest possible order of due diligence without any compromise. The commission is unequivocally committed to ensure that such high order of trust and credibility remains intact and uncompromised,” the agency said in its press statement.
In her first reaction to the FIR, Khedkar told reporters in Pune the “judiciary will take its course”.