For the first time in its history, UPSC has issued a show cause notice to an IAS probationer, Puja Manorma Dilip Khedkar, to roll out the process of dismissing her from the service after the commission in an inquiry found out that she “fraudulently availed” attempts beyond the permission limit by “faking her identity”.
The 32-year-old MBBS from Maharashtra, who secured 821 rank in the Civil Services Examination in 2022, came into public scanner recently after she tried to forcibly occupy a local administration office cabin in Pune, where she was posted as a trainee officer and was also found using her personal Toyota luxury car with a beacon, which was an illegal act.
Not just that, her behaviour with others, including her seniors, also became a subject of criticism and intense public debate which led to a furore. In that whole milieu, her past and family too came under the glare, with questions raised, among others, how she managed to get a civil services job under the quota for disabled and Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
Mother arrested
Her mother, Manorama Khedkar, a former sarpanch, was also arrested on Thursday for brandishing a gun to allegedly threaten some persons in a land dispute case in Pune.
Government sources said, this is the first time the UPSC has come across such an instance in its 100-year-old history. The UPSC will also carry out a review of it systems to plug loopholes, if any, once the commission is done with the present inquiry against Khedkar, government sources informed.
What is interesting is that the alleged fraud done by Khedkar to fake her identity to land the job of the civil servant may drag the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) as well. Government sources said that all papers, including those relating to medical tests of a candidate, are verified by the DoPT. The medical of a candidate is done after the interview and the medical clearances too go the DoPT, government sources pointed out.
Apart from that, the police verification is also done through the DoPT. Khedkar had declared herself an OBC and a ‘person with benchmark disabilities’ (PwBD) categories, owing to what she claimed due to her visual and mental disabilities.
Reports earlier stated that she did not undergo tests in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to prove her PwBD status.
In a statement, the UPSC on Friday said it has initiated a series of actions against Khedkar, including lodging an FIR with the police. The commission has issued a “show cause notice for cancellation of her candidature of the Civil Services Examination-2022/ debarment from future examinations/ selections” in accordance with the rules.
This was after the UPSC conducted a detailed and thorough investigation into the “misdemeanour” of Khedkar, a provisionally recommended candidate of the Civil Services Examination 2022.
“From this investigation, it has been revealed that the 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 name and mother’s name, her photograph/ signature, her email ID, mobile number and address,” the UPSC revealed.
It’s learnt that she played with the names of her father, a former government employee and a politician, and mother to affix them separately at different attempts she made to write the civil services exam. For instance, she is alleged d to have combined her name Pooja with that of her father, Dilip Khedkar, for one civil services exam, government sources said. Again, she allegedly put together her name Pooja and that of her mother’s Manorma Khedkar, for another attempt.
Government sources said the UPSC had to conduct her interview owing to a direction from the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT). The UPSC is said to have raised eyebrows over her medical condition in 2021 exam itself but she got an order from the CAT for a provisional interview which the Commission did and she cleared the examination to get into the Indian Revenue Service (IRS).
In 2022 also, she managed to navigate herself surreptitiously to get into the IAS, government sources added. The UPSC categorically stated that it stringently adheres to its Constitutional mandate to fulfil its Constitutional obligation and conducts all its processes, including all examinations, with the highest possible order of due diligence and without any compromise.
The Commission insisted that it has ensured the sanctity and integrity of all its examination processes with the utmost fairness and strict observance of rules.
“The UPSC has deservedly earned the trust and credibility of a vey high order from the public, especially the candidates,” stated the constitutional body mandated to conduct direct recruitment of officers to the All India Services and the Central Civil Services. The Commission observed that it is unequivocally committed to ensure that such high order of trust and credibility remains intact and uncompromised. The Centre has also constituted an inquiry to verify into claims of Khedkar for appearing into the examination.