Puja Khedkar case: Pune hospital says ‘no foul play’ in disability certificate, nullified claims warranting benefits…

In a fresh development in the case against IAS officer Puja Khedkar for allegedly misusing the disability and Other Backward Class (OBC) quota to secure a position in civil service, a Pune hospital on Wednesday confirmed there was no malpractice in the issuance of disability certificate to the 2023 batch trainee. 

An enquiry conducted by the Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial (YCM) Hospital in Pune discovered that there was no malpractice in the issuance of a seven per cent locomotor disability certificate to the probationary IAS officer, Hindustan Times reported, quoting a senior official.

Dean of YCM hospital, Dr Rajendra Wable, informed HT that there was no foul play and the certificate was issued as per rules. He said, “The internal report confirmed that the certificate was issued following a thorough assessment by our physiotherapy and orthopaedic departments and the medical test conducted was as per rules and there was no foul play found.”

Furthermore, the probe findings rejected the possibility of Puja Khedkar's claims of having a locomotor disability, according to Dr Rajendra Wable.

He noted that the certificate nullified claims that warranted any benefits in becoming an IAS officer. “It has been clarified that the certificate would not provide any benefits in education or employment,” reported HT.

The hospital investigated the medical certificates to determine false claims after receiving a letter on this from the Collector's office in Pune.

An insight into the investigation reveals that the hospital verified that Puja Khedkar hailed from the Pimpri Chinchwad area but not the address of the applicant, since it does not come under its jurisdiction. “Verifying the address doesn't come under the office work of the hospital. We just have to see if the person belongs to the Pimpri Chinchwad area or not and that was checked," HT quoted Dr Rajendra Wable as saying.

On July 8, Puja Khedkar was transferred from Pune to Washim for allegedly abusing her power. Despite serving in the probationary period, she demanded perks and seized the office of an additional collector.