Centre dismisses Puja Khedkar from Indian Administrative Service with immediate effect

The Central government discharged Puja Khedkar from the Indian Administrative Service with immediate effect on Friday. The development came a little more than a month after the former probationary officer's provisional candidature was cancelled by the Union Public Service Commission. Khedkar has been accused of cheating and using a forged certificate to avail disability quota benefits and ensure her selection.

Khedkar was discharged with immediate effect under Rule 12 of the IAS (probation) guidelines. According to this rule, the Central government can discharge probationers from service if they fail “to pass the re-examination” or “if the central government is satisfied that the probationer was ineligible for recruitment to the Service or is unsuitable for being a member of the Service”. UPSC had cancelled her candidature on July 31 and debarred her from future exams.

The former IAS official has denied the charges and recently insisted that the UPSC had no power to disqualify her candidature.

“I am willing to get myself medically examined. First they say I changed my name. Now they say disability is questionable. I am willing to go to AIIMS,” the senior counsel appearing for Khedkar told Delhi High Court this week.

The former IPS official had been serving in her cadre state Maharashtra earlier this year when she came under fire for repeatedly demanding a separate cabin, car, residential quarters and a peon. The Pune police had also launched an inquiry in July over her unauthorised use of a red-blue beacon light and 'Maharashtra Government' written on the private car. She was eventually transferred to the Washim district collectorate amid growing scrutiny of her documents.

The Centre had formed a single-member panel to check the "candidature claims and other details" of the controversial official in mid-July.

Khedkar's mother Manorama is currently in jail in a case pertaining to criminal intimidation as she was arrested by Pune rural police for threatening a person with a gun in 2023 over a land dispute case. Her father Dilip, a retired government officer, is also an accused in the case.

(With inputs from agencies)