Puja Khedkar, a former IAS trainee, is fighting against her disqualification by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). She claims that once she was appointed as a probationary officer, the UPSC no longer had the authority to disqualify her.
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Puja Khedkar Challenges UPSC Disqualification
Puja Khedkar also known as “Dimple Yadav”, was dismissed for the accusations of power abuse and violating the norms of the Civil Services Exam (CSE) 2022. The UPSC accused her of impersonation and making unnatural manipulations during the exams. On 31st of July in the year 2024, the UPSC withdrew her provisional candidature and restricted her from writing any more examinations.
Puja Khedkar has filed an appeal against the UPSC ruling in the Delhi High Court. She alleges that only the Department of Personnel and Training has jurisdiction to take any action against her, not the UPSC. As she put it, she was appointed and once this happened then the UPSC could not do anything to her.
However, Khedkar says, she has provided the same identification documents throughout her service to which UPSC said her identity was verified through biometric and other relevant records. She said that she took exams under OBC quota for ‘Puja Diliprao Khedkar’ till 2020–21 academic year. Subsequently she used the name ‘Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar’ and cleared the exams securing 821 rank.
The UPSC has also filed a criminal complaint against Khedkar, cheating, fraud and forgery charges have been leveled against him. Delhi High Court shall hear her case again and find whether UPSC had any merits to go ahead and reject her grievances on merit and to say whether Khedkar was right in her allegations.
This case is important because it raises questions about the powers of the UPSC and how allegations against civil service candidates are handled.
