The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has cancelled the selection of Puja Khedkar as a trainee IAS officer and permanently barred her from taking the entrance exam, following revelations that she faked her identity to exceed the permissible number of attempts.
In an official statement, the UPSC disclosed that Puja Khedkar violated the Civil Services Examination (CSE) rules by fraudulently availing herself of additional attempts.
“A Show Cause Notice (SCN) was issued by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to Ms. Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar, a provisionally recommended candidate of the Civil Services Examination-2022 (CSE-2022) on 18th July, 2024, for fraudulently availing attempts beyond the permissible limit provided for in the Examination Rules by faking her identity,” the statement read.
Puja Khedkar, 34, was required to submit her response by July 25 but requested an extension until August 4. The UPSC granted her time until July 30, emphasizing that it was the “final opportunity” and no further extensions would be allowed. Despite the extension, Khedkar failed to provide an explanation within the given time frame.
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“The UPSC 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,” the statement added.
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The UPSC further revealed that it had reviewed data for over 15,000 candidates who cleared the IAS screening process between 2009 and 2023. “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,” it stated.
Khedkar’s deception involved changing not only her name but also her parents’ names, which allowed her to bypass the standard verification procedures. In response, the UPSC is working to strengthen its Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to prevent such cases in the future.
The UPSC clarified that it only conducts a preliminary scrutiny of candidates’ certificates, with the understanding that the verification of authenticity is carried out by designated authorities. “The UPSC neither has the mandate nor the wherewithal to check the veracity of thousands of certificates submitted by the candidates every year,” the statement noted.
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The issues around Puja Khedkar began in June when Pune Collector Suhas Diwase reported her demands for perks she was not entitled to during her probation period, leading to her transfer to Washim. Subsequent investigations revealed that she had misused relaxed criteria for OBC candidates and persons with disabilities. It was also found that her father, a former Maharashtra government officer, owned property worth Rs 40 crore, disqualifying her from the OBC non-creamy layer category. Furthermore, she had not undergone the mandatory health check-up at a government facility.
The controversy deepened when a video emerged of Khedkar’s mother, a sarpanch, brandishing a gun to threaten people. Manorama Khedkar was later arrested, and her father, Dilip Khedkar, is now under investigation for owning assets disproportionate to his income.
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This scandal underscores the importance of stringent verification processes and the potential consequences of fraudulent activities in competitive examinations.
