THE Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Friday said it has lodged a criminal case against probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar for faking her identity to fraudulently avail attempts in the civil services examination beyond eligibility, and taken steps to debar her from future selections. Following a complaint from the Commission, Delhi Police said its Crime Branch has taken up the investigation. “UPSC has filed a complaint with Delhi Police against Ms. Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar for misrepresenting and falsifying facts to obtain extra attempts in the UPSC examinations, beyond the prescribed limit. Consequently, a case has been registered under the relevant sections of the law, and investigation has been taken up in Crime Branch,” Delhi Police said in a statement.

 

Khedkar, a 2023-batch probationary Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, is accused of misusing power and privileges, by demanding perks and facilities she was not entitled for, during her training in Pune District Collectorate in Maharashtra recently. She was accused of bullying everyone around and of placing a red-blue beacon (indicating high-ranking official) atop a private Audi (a luxury sedan) car used by her that also had 'Maharashtra Government’written on it during her stint. After the Pune District Collector flagged the matter, Khedkar was transferred to Washim District Collectorate in the Vidarbha region. She was declared qualified in the civil services examination 2022. Based on the results declared last year by the UPSC, Khedkar was allocated the IAS and her home state Maharashtra as a cadre. “The UPSC has conducted a detailed and thorough investigation in the misdemeanour of Ms. Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar, a provisionally recommended candidate of the Civil Services Examination-2022,”an official statement issued on Friday said. From this investigation, it has been revealed that she 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’ name, her photograph/ signature, her email ID, mobile number and address, the Commission said. Puja Khedkar leaves Washim, say she will return: Controversial IAS officer Puja Khedkar on Friday moved out of Washim, shortly after the UPSC initiated a series of actions against her, including registration of a police case for availing attempts in the civil services exam by faking identity.

 

 

THE Pimpri-Chinchwad civic body on Friday sealed an engineering firm linked to the mother of controversial probationary Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Puja Khedkar over unpaid property tax amounting to nearly Rs 2 lakh, municipal officials said. The junior bureaucrat’s mother, Manorama Khedkar, is currently in the custody of Pune police in a criminal case. The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) in Pune district sealed the defunct firm -- Thermoverita India Pvt Ltd -- located in the Talawade area over unpaid property dues. Notably, Puja Khedkar, while applying for a disability certificate at the Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital (YCM) in the Pimpri-Chinchwad township for selection into civil services under quota, had given the engineering firm’s location as her residential address. “The property tax for 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 for Thermoverita India Pvt Ltd has been pending for the last two years. Additionally, the current year’s outstanding is also pending. As their dues were unpaid in 2023, first they (owner) were issued notices and later as a graded response, we first snapped their water connection. Since, the dues are unpaid for the last two years, we as a next procedure, sealed the property,” said PCMC commissioner Shekhar Singh. The total outstanding for the last two years was Rs 1.96 lakh and if the current year’s dues are added, the pending amount goes up to Rs 2.77 lakh, he said.