UPSC cancels controversial IAS officer Puja Khedkar’s provisional candidature.

The body has also debarred her from appearing for any exam conducted by the UPSC. The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has cancelled the provisional candidature of controversial trainee IAS officer, Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar, over irregularities in her civil services exam 2022 application. The body has also debarred her from appearing for any exam conducted by the UPSC. Puja Khedkar, a probationary IAS officer who secured an all-India rank of 821 in the UPSC exams, is accused of misusing her authority. She is also accused of faking her identity to fraudulently avail herself of attempts beyond the permissible limit in the civil services examination. The Delhi police had registered an FIR against her over a complaint filed by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). “From the investigation, it has been revealed that she fraudulently availed attempts beyond the permissible limit under the Examination Rules by faking her identity by way of changing her name, her father’s and mother’s names, her photograph/signature, her email ID, mobile number and address,” the UPSC had said in a press release. After reports that she used fake documents to prove her physical disability, the UPSC issued her a show-cause notice. The UPSC’s action comes two weeks after Puja Khedkar was relieved from the District Training Programme of the government of Maharashtra. She was recalled to the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in Mussoorie and her training had been put on hold. Meanwhile, a Delhi court will today hear the anticipatory bail plea of Puja Khedkar. Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala, who was scheduled to hear the matter on Tuesday, adjourned the hearing after the public prosecutor (PP) sought time. Earlier this week, a Pune court remanded Puja Khedkar’s mother to 14-day judicial custody in a criminal case linked to a land dispute. Manorama Khedkar was arrested for allegedly threatening some persons with a gun over a land dispute in the Pune district last year.