UPSC cancels Khedkar’s IAS candidature

New Delhi, July 31
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Wednesday cancelled the provisional candidature of probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar and debarred her from all future examinations or selections after finding her guilty of acting in contravention of the provisions of the Civil Services Examination Rules.
In a statement, the UPSC said it had thoroughly examined the available data of more than 15,000 finally recommended candidates of the CSEs from 2009 to 2023 i.e. for 15 years with respect to the number of attempts availed by them.
After this detailed exercise, barring the case of Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar, no other candidate had been found to have availed more number of attempts than permitted under the CSE Rules, it said.
The commission said Khedkar was able to do so “primarily due to the fact that she changed not only her name but also her parents’ name”.
It said the UPSC was in the process of “further strengthening the SOP to ensure that such a case does not recur in the future”. The commission said a show-cause notice was issued to Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar on July 18 for “fraudulently” availing attempts beyond the permissible limit in the examination by “faking” her identity.
The commission said a show-cause notice was issued to Khedkar on July 18 for “fraudulently” availing attempts beyond the permissible limit in the examination by “faking” her identity.
She was asked to submit her response to the notice by July 25, but she requested time till August 4 to gather the necessary documents for her response, it said.
The UPSC granted her a “final opportunity” to submit her response by 3:30 pm on July 30, but she “failed to submit her explanation within the prescribed time”, the commission said. TNS