The UPSC on Wednesday said it has cancelled the provisional candidature of probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar and debarred her from all future examinations or selections.
“The UPSC has examined the available records carefully and found her guilty of acting in contravention of the provisions of the CSE-2022 Rules,” the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) said in a statement.
The decision comes after a thorough review by the commission. In addition to cancelling her provisional candidature, the UPSC has permanently debarred Khedkar from all future exams and selection processes conducted by the commission.
The Delhi Police Crime Branch allegedly booked Khedkar on July 19 for misusing the disability and Other Backward Class (non-creamy layer) quotas to secure her candidature in the civil services exam. The allegations include fraudulently availing these quotas beyond the permissible number of attempts by faking her identity.
The UPSC said a show cause notice (SCN) was issued to Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar on July 18 for “fraudulently” availing attempts beyond the permissible limit in the examination by “faking” her identity.
She was to submit her response to the SCN by July 25 but she requested time till August 4 to gather the necessary documents for her response, it said. The UPSC granted her a “final opportunity” to submit her response by 3:30 pm on July 30 but she “failed to submit her explanation within the prescribed time”, the commission said.
The UPSC filed a police case against Khedkar, leading to an investigation by a dedicated team led by an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) from the Crime Branch. This team was tasked with collecting relevant documents from various government departments to support the investigation.
The Pune Police has already launched an investigation into the alleged unauthorised use of a red-blue beacon light and ‘Maharashtra Government’ sticker on the private Audi car of Pooja.
Pooja was transferred from Pune to Washim earlier this month following allegations that the officer had made repeated requests for a private cabin, car, living quarters, and a peon even before joining duty on June 3.
