New Delhi: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Wednesday cancelled the provisional selection of IAS trainee officer Puja Khedkar and permanently banned her from appearing in the entrance examination.
In a statement, the UPSC said a show cause notice was issued to her on 18 July for “fraudulently availing attempts beyond the permissible limit provided for in the Examination Rules by faking her identity”.
Khedkar, 34, had secured an All India Rank (AIR) of 821 and was allotted 2023-batch IAS under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Persons with Benchmark Disabilities quotas.
While she was initially asked to respond by 25 July, she sought an extension till 4 August. The UPSC then granted her time till 3:30 pm Tuesday.
“It was also categorically made clear to Puja Dilip Khedkar that it was last and final opportunity and no further extension in time would be allowed,” the statement read, adding that she was also informed that failing to comply to do so, the UPSC would take further action without considering any future reference from her.
Khedkar failed to comply with the scheduled date and time. “Despite extension in time allowed to her, she failed to submit her explanation within the prescribed time,” the Commission said.
“The UPSC has examined the available records carefully and found her guilty of acting in contravention of the provisions of the CSE-2022 Rules. Her provisional candidature for the CSE-2022 has been cancelled and she has also been debarred permanently from all the future Examinations/Selections of the UPSC,” the statement further said.
The Commission added that the UPSC had examined data of more than 15,000 candidates who had cleared the exam between 2009 and 2023.
“After this detailed exercise, barring the case of Ms. Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar, no other candidate has been found to have availed more number of attempts than permitted under the CSE Rules,” it said.
“In the lone case of Ms. Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar, the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of the UPSC could not detect her number of attempts primarily due to the fact that she changed not only her name but also her parents’ name. The UPSC is in the process of further strengthening the SOP to ensure that such a case does not recur in the future.”
Meanwhile, the UPSC also issued a clarification that it only carries out “a preliminary scrutiny of the certificates” of candidates.
“Generally, the certificate is taken as genuine, if it has been issued by the competent authority. The UPSC neither has the mandate nor the wherewithal to check the veracity of thousands of certificates submitted by the candidates every year. However, it is understood that scrutiny and verification of genuineness of certificates is carried out by the authorities mandated with the task,” the statement added.
In June, the Delhi Police lodged an FIR against Khedkar under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections for forgery and cheating and other sections under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act and the Information Technology Act. The action came after the UPSC had filed a complaint against Khedkar.
Khedkar was accused of submitting a disability certificate, claiming multiple disabilities, and an OBC non-creamy layer certificate, claiming that her family’s annual income was less than Rs 8 lakh.
The matter came to light after the 34-year-old, who was on probation, in the Pune district collector’s office was accused of harassing officials, just three months into her probation demanding a VIP number plate car with red beacon and a chamber.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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