The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has cancelled the provisional candidature of Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar, a trainee IAS Officer Puja Khedkar accused of multiple irregularities in her 2022 civil services exam application. Khedkar has also been permanently barred from appearing in any future UPSC examinations.

In an official statement, the UPSC detailed their findings and actions "The Union Public Service Commission 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."

IAS Officer Puja Khedkar
Image Source: HerZindagi

Khedkar, who secured an All India Rank of 821 in the 2022 UPSC exams, is accused of extending her exam attempts by falsifying her identity. The Delhi Police had registered an FIR against her following a complaint from the UPSC, which highlighted her use of false information to gain additional exam attempts beyond the permissible limit.

"In the backdrop of the case of Ms. Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar, the UPSC has thoroughly examined the available data of more than 15,000 finally recommended candidates of the CSEs from the year 2009 to 2023 i.e. for 15 years with respect to the number of attempts availed by them. 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.

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,” UPSC mentioned.

The UPSC issued a show-cause notice to Khedkar on July 18, demanding an explanation for the alleged irregularities. Despite being given an extension until July 30 to respond, Khedkar failed to submit a satisfactory explanation.

The investigation revealed that Khedkar changed her name and her parents’ names, as well as other personal details, to circumvent the limits on exam attempts. "From the 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's and mother's names, her photograph/signature, her email ID, mobile number and address," the UPSC stated.

Khedkar’s troubles began in June when Pune Collector Suhas Diwase flagged her demands for perks she was not entitled to during her probation, leading to further scrutiny of her IAS selection. It was found that she availed of relaxed criteria for OBC candidates and persons with disabilities, despite not meeting the eligibility requirements. Her father, a former Maharashtra government officer, was found to own property worth ₹40 crores, disqualifying her from the OBC non-creamy layer tag. Additionally, she did not undergo the mandatory health check-up at a government facility to confirm her disability exemption.

Amid these revelations, a video surfaced of Khedkar’s mother, Manorama Khedkar, threatening people with a gun over a land dispute. She was subsequently arrested, and her father, Dilip Khedkar, is under investigation for owning assets disproportionate to his income.

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