Centre Discharges Puja Khedkar From IAS With Immediate Effect | All About The Row

Over a month after UPSC cancelled her candidature, the central government on Saturday discharged Puja Khedkar from the Indian Administrative Service with immediate effect, official sources said.

Khedkar has been hitting headlines since July after she was transferred for making VIP demands and misusing her position. She has been accused of fraudulently securing UPSC exam attempts beyong the permissible limit by faking her identity till September 5.

In an order dated September 6, 2024, the central government discharged Khedkar from the IAS under Rule 12 of IAS (Probation) Rules, 1954, with immediate effect, sources added.

The rules allow the Centre to discharge a probationer from service if "he fails to pass the re-examination..." or " if the central government is satisfied that the probationer was ineligible for recruitment to the Service or is unsuitable for being a member of the Service", among others.

The development comes a week after the Delhi High Court extended interim protection to Khedkar from arrest in the case registered against her for her fraud in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination attempts.

As allegations against Khedkar began coming to the forefront, the Centre in July had formed a single-member panel to look into the conduct of the then probationary IAS officer.

The committee was chaired by a senior officer of the rank of Additional Secretary to government of India to verify the candidature claims and other details of Puja Khedkar.

THE PUJA KHEDKAR ROW | KEY POINTS

The Beginning: Khedkar Gets Transferred

Puja Khedkar, a probationary IAS officer posted in Pune, was transferred for making "VIP demands". She had triggered a massive row for allegedly using her private Audi car with a red-blue beacon light and VIP number plate. Khedkar had also installed a 'Maharashtra government' board on her private car.

A 2023-batch IAS officer, she was transferred to central Maharashtra's Washim district before she could complete her training.

As per a report submitted by Pune collector Suhas Diwse to the General Administration Department (GAD), even before joining duty on June 3, Khedkar repeatedly demanded that she be provided a separate cabin, car, residential quarters and a peon.

She had been told that she was not entitled to these facilities on probation, and accommodation will be provided to her. Pune collector Suhas Diwse, in his report to the GAD, had said it was not appropriate to allow Puja Khedkar to continue her training in Pune.

Amid the accusations, the Centre formed a single-member, to investigate Khedkar's claims of being visually mentally challenged.

FAKE CERTIFICATES, OBC QUOTA & MEDICAL DISABILITY

Once Khedkar came in the limelight, she continued to get embroiled in controversies. It was reported that she allegedly submitted fake disability and Other Backward Class (OBC) certificates to clear the civil services exam. She also submitted a mental illness certificate.

She was reportedly asked to report at AIIMS Delhi in April 2022 for verification of her disability certificate, however, she cited Covid infection and did not do so.

Making statements on the fake certificates row, Khedkar had told reporters that truth will prevail after she would make submission before the Central committee. She had said that whatever decision the committee will take should be acceptable to all. “The experts of the government (committee) will decide. Neither I nor you (media) or the public can decide,” she had said.

Trouble did not end for Khedkar there as fresh reports then suggested that she had secured admission in a MBBS course using the OBC non-creamy layer quota.

She had got admission at Pune's Kashibai Navale Medical College for MBBS under the OBC Nomadic Tribe-3 category, reserved for the Vanjari community.

However, the director of the medical college, Arvind Bhore, had said that she took admission in 2007 through the Common Entrance Test (CET), adding that she had submitted a medical fitness certificate which did not mention any disability.

Meanwhile, Puja's father -- Dilip Khedkar -- a retired bureaucrat, defended his daughter and said that she was "victim of conspiracy". He said that his daughter's disability certificate was legitimate.

PARENTS IN LIMELIGHT

With Puja, her parents Dilip and Manorama Khedkar also made news.

Both Manorama and Dilip had been booked under the Arms Act after a video of the former using a pistol to threaten a farmer went viral on social media.

Manorama's video of her waving a gun and yelling at a man at what looked like a farmland -- over some land dispute -- added to the existing list of controversies surrounding Puja Khedkar.

Notably, Dilip had reportedly amassed property worth crores of rupees and bought land at several locations including 25 acres in Pune's Mulshi taluka.

A week after the FIR, Manorama was arrested by the Pune Police for possession of illegal firearm. She had been hiding at a lodge in Mahad before she was detained by the cops.

Dilip had defended Manorama, saying, "The media and others are showing only one video clip. The day before that incident, a local aggressively approached her with a stick. In such a situation, should she have stayed silent? She possesses a licence to carry the gun for self-defence."

Dilip was also being probed by the Pune ACB in an alleged disproportionate assets case.

FIR, SHOW CAUSE NOTICE FROM UPSC

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) had then filed an FIR against Puja Khedkar for "faking her identity", issuing a show cause notice for the cancellation of her candidature.

It said that the commission had conducted a "detailed and thorough investigation into the misdemeanour of Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar, a provisionally recommended candidate for the Civil Services Examination 2022."

The governing body's probe revealed that Khedkar "fraudulently availed attempts beyond the permissible limit under the Examination Rules by faking her identity by way of changing her name, her father and mother's name, her photograph/signature, her email ID, mobile number and address".

UPSC also issued a Show Cause Notice to Puja for the cancellation of her candidature of the Civil Services Examination 2022/debarment from future examinations or selections. The notice was sent in accordance with the Rules of the Civil Services Examination 2022.

Amid this, the single-member panel led by Manoj Dwivedi -- additional secretary in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) -- submitted its report to the DoPT.

UPSC CANCELS CANDIDATURE

The Union Public Service Commission on July 31 cancelled the provisional candidature of Puja Khedkar and said that it is permanently debarring her from all future exams and selections.

Last month, Khedkar challenged the cancellation before the Delhi High Court, saying that the order by UPSC had not been provided to her. Representing the controversial officer, Senior Advocate Indira Jaising had said that all Khedkar had was a "press release".

Khedkar had made two specific requests before the court: the formal delivery of the cancellation order and the quashing of the press release related to the cancellation.

PROTECTION FROM ARREST

On August 1, Delhi's Patiala House Court had dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of Puja Khedkar, accused of using fraudulent means to pass the UPSC exams. She is accused of cheating and forgery.

Khedkar had told the court that she was being targeted for filing a sexual harassment complaint against an officer.

She later challenged the district court's decision in the High Court. The Delhi HC instructed Delhi Police to not arrest Khedkar, issuing notices to the cops and UPSC regarding her anticipatory bail plea.

The Delhi Police FIR had alleged that she faked her identity to gain additional attempts in the civil services exam. Instructing no arrest while the matter is under consideration, the Delhi HC had noted that immediate arrest is not deemed necessary.

Last week, the High Court extended interim protection from arrest granted to Khedkar.

WHAT KHEDKAR TOLD DELHI HC

Last week, former trainee IAS officer Puja Khedkar urged the Delhi High Court to not consider seven out of her 12 acknowledged attempts to pass the highly competitive civil services entrance exam.

She claimed a 47 per cent disability as against the government's 40 per cent benchmark. Citing a Maharashtra hospital certificate diagnosing her with an "old ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) tear with left knee instability", she urged that only attempts in the 'divyang' category should be counted.

The term 'divyang' is used by the Centre to identify individuals with disabilities.

If her affidavit to disregard her seven attempts as a general category candidate gets accepted, it will curtail the number of confirmed attempts to five which is four less than the accepted upper limits for persons with disabilities.

KHEDKAR SACKED FROM IAS

The central government on Saturday discharged Puja Khedkar from the Indian Administrative Service with immediate effect, official sources said.

Her discharge was ordered under Rule 12 of IAS (Probation) Rules, 1954.

Notably, centre had earlier constituted a single member panel led by Manoj Dwivedi -- additional secretary in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). The panel submitted its report to the DoPT late in July.

Based on the findings and conclusions of the committee, the government went forward with a summary enquiry as per the provisions of Rule 12 of IAS (Probation) Rules, 1954, including giving Khedkar a reasonable opportunity.

It was noted that she had applied and appeared for the CSE between 2012 to 2023, official sources said.

As per the information submitted by Khedkar in her civil services exam application forms between CSE- 2012 to CSE- 2023, it was seen that she availed more attempts at examination than the maximum permissible limit of nine in her claimed category (Other Backward Classes and Persons with Benchmark Disability), which she had exhausted by attempting the civil services examinations between 2012 and 2020 i.e., prior to the CSE-2022 itself, they added.

Following the summary enquiry, it was seen that she was ineligible to be a candidate at the CSE-2022, which was the year of her selection and appointment to the IAS, sources said.

Hence, she was ineligible to be recruited to the IAS.