Will communicate cancellation order to Puja Khedkar within 2 days: UPSC in Delhi HC

New Delhi: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) told the Delhi High Court on Wednesday that it will communicate to former Maharashtra cadre probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar within two days its order cancelling her provisional candidature for Civil Services Examinations (CSE)-2022.

A bench of Justice Jyoti Singh was hearing a plea filed by Khedkar challenging the validity of a press release issued by the UPSC cancelling her provisional candidature and permanently debarring her from all future exams/selections.

Disposing of Khedkar’s plea, the high court granted her liberty to approach the appropriate judicial forum for remedy.

Khedkar allegedly submitted false OBC and PwBD (Persons with Benchmark Disabilities) certificates and fraudulently availed attempts beyond the permissible limits provided for the CSE by faking her identity.

The UPSC had said that its Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) “could not detect her number of attempts primarily because she changed not only her name but also her parents’ names”.

Last week, a court here turned down her anticipatory bail plea and asked the investigating agency to find out if anyone from inside the UPSC had helped Khedkar.

Widening the scope of the probe, Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala asked the Delhi Police to investigate if other people recommended by the UPSC have availed quota benefits without entitlement.

The UPSC, Central government, Maharashtra government, and the police are conducting separate probes against Puja Khedkar, while the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie removed her from field training as a trainee IAS officer in Pune and Washim districts.

Last month UPSC cancelled the provisional candidature of IAS Probationary Officer Puja Khedkar and permanently barred her from all future examinations/selections, as per an official announcement on Wednesday. The move came after the UPSC scrutinised available records of Khedkar and found her guilty of violating the Civil Services Examinations-2022 (CSE-2022), and issued a show cause notice issued to her on July 18.