The Union Public Service Commission has terminated the services of probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar. The decision was taken after UPSC found the charges against her, of violating the examination rules and guidelines, correct.
“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 central government’s department of personnel and training (DoPT) said in a statement.
Way ahead
The legal options for Puja after the UPSC decision could be limited since she failed to defend herself when the commission gave her a chance to do so.
The UPSC sent a show cause notice to Puja on July 18 for “fraudulently availing attempts beyond the permissible limit provided for in the Examination Rules by faking her identity".
Puja Khedkar, as per experts, has queered the pitch for herself by refusing to put her side of the story before the commission.
As per the UPSC, she first sought an extension from July 25 to August 4. The commission considered her request and granted time until 3.30 pm on July 30, making it clear that this was her final opportunity.
“Despite extension in time allowed to her, she failed to submit her explanation within the prescribed time," the DoPT statement said.
Puja had in 2023 challenged UPSC’s decision on her candidature before the Central Administrative Tribunal. If she were to challenge the 2024 UPSC ruling again before CAT, the commission can argue that she was given enough opportunities to present her case but she chose not to appear.
Police case bigger challenge
The police case against Puja is a bigger challenge for her currently than the termination of her job. Delhi police lodged an FIR against Puja after the UPSC’s preliminary inquiry found her faking her name, names of her mother and father, address, phone number, and email address. The UPSC said that Puja could escape scrutiny and take multiple attempts because of these alleged forgeries. Puja while seeking anticipatory bail from Delhi’s Patiala House Court has expressed apprehensions that police could now insist on her custodial interrogation. The court has reserved its order on her plea.
Police investigations against her parents are also open.
UPSC says due process followed
The Union Public Service Commission has said that it has thoroughly examined the available data of more than 15,000 finally recommended candidates from 2009 to 2023 and only Puja Khedkar was found guilty of sabotaging the UPSC Exam Rules.
“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," it said.
The commission said that Puja misused the action that the UPSC took in “good faith" while scrutinising the certificates of candidates. “UPSC does only a preliminary scrutiny of the certificates viz. whether the certificate has been issued by the competent authority, the year to which the certificate pertains, issuing date of the certificate, whether there is any overwriting on the certificate, format of the certificate etc. Generally, the certificate is taken as genuine, if it has been issued by the competent authority. The UPSC neither has the mandate nor the wherewithal to check the veracity of thousands of certificates submitted by the candidates every year," it said.
With the UPSC lodging an FIR now, not just Puja but even those who provided her with caste and medical certificates could face legal action if a conspiracy can be proved.
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