New Delhi: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Thursday lodged an FIR against controversial probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar and issued a show cause notice for cancellation of her candidature after it found that she had appeared in the civil services exams 12 times in violation of rules by faking her identity.
During its investigation, the UPSC found that Khedkar had faked her identity by changing her name, her father’s and mother’s name, her photograph, signature, address, email id, and mobile number.
“In the show cause notice, UPSC has asked her why her civil service exams candidature should not be cancelled for giving wrong information and fraudulently appearing in the civil service exams in 2022,” a senior government official said.
Khedkar has been given two weeks to respond to the show cause notice.
Two senior government officials aware of the development said the show cause notice was issued to Khedkar after the UPSC found that she has appeared in the civil services exams 12 times since 2012.
While general category candidates are allowed six attempts till they attain 32 years of age, those appearing under Other Backward Class (OBC) and Persons with Disability (PwD) categories are allowed nine attempts till 35 and 42 years of age, respectively. Only candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) are allowed unlimited attempts till they reach 37 years of age.
Asked how Khedkar could sit in the civil service exams 12 times, one of the government officials said that she gave a different name to evade detection.
Serving and retired IAS officers ThePrint spoke to said this again points to lapses at the level of both the UPSC and Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
“How could anybody sit for civil services exams 12 times? Even if a candidate gave a different name, his/her photograph was there in the application form. Didn’t anybody notice it during the verification process,” a secretary in one of the central government ministries told ThePrint.
The UPSC show cause notices came two days after the Maharashtra government cut short Khedkar’s district training and immediately recalled her to the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in Mussoorie.
A 2023-batch IAS officer, Khedkar secured an All India Rank (AIR) of 821 and submitted a disability certificate claiming multiple disabilities including visual impairment and depression, along with an OBC non-creamy layer certificate, implying that her family’s annual income is less than Rs 8 lakh.
The case came to light after the trainee IAS officer, who was on probation in the Pune district collector’s office, began allegedly harassing officers three months into her probation by demanding an official car with a VIP number plate, red beacon and an official chamber with adequate staff.
The Maharashtra government transferred her to Washim as supernumerary assistant collector following a complaint by Pune district collector Suhas Diwase to the chief secretary about Khedkar’s misconduct.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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