New Delhi: The Narendra Modi-led government on Saturday discharged suspended trainee IAS officer Puja Khedkar with immediate effect from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) under Rule 12 of IAS (Probation) Rules, 1954.
"Vide order dated 6th September 6, 2024, the Central government discharges Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar, IAS Probationer (Maharashtra: 2023), from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), under Rule 12 of IAS (Probation) Rules, 1954," government sources said.
Khedkar has been accused of cheating and wrongly availing Other Backward Classes (OBC) and disability quota benefits to ensure her selection in the service. She has denied all allegations.
The rules allow the central government to 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", among others.
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) had on July 31 cancelled her candidature and debarred her from future exams. The UPSC had also booked Khedkar on various charges and currently, a case is going on in the Delhi High Court.
Khedkar was serving as a probationary IAS officer in her cadre state Maharashtra. Her mother was also booked by Pune Police for allegedly threatening farmers.
Puja Khedkar is sacked after she is found guilty of hiding facts about her disability claims and OBC certificate, sources said. The allegations of hiding facts and misrepresentation are found to be true, the sources further said. Earlier, the Centre constituted a single-member committee headed by an additional secretary to the Government of India to verify the claims of Puja Khedkar, who is an IAS officer of the 2023 batch on a 24-month probationary period.
The controversy surrounding Puja Khedkar began after she was found misusing a red-blue beacon and a board of Maharashtra government by mounting them on her private luxury. She was also accused of demanding unauthorised perks at her office, a privilege not available to junior officers. Khedkar is currently on a 24-month probationary period.
Serious questions were raised about the UPSC selection of the 34-year-old Khedkar as she refused to undergo mandatory medical tests during the selection process. Khedkar filed an affidavit before the UPSC claiming that she was visually impaired and mentally ill. Puja Khedkar became embroiled in the eye of a big controversy after the Pune Collector complained to the Maharashtra chief secretary against her.
Social activist from Pune Vijay Kumbhar, who first brought the matter to light, welcomed the Centre's decision.
"The Centre dismissed Pooja Khedkar. Whatever she did to join the IAS service is a crime. It is good that today on Ganesha Chaturthi, this bad attitude has been dissolved," Kumbhar said.
He also said, "These cases proved that even officers with such high protection can be removed from service if the matter is consistently followed up."
"Now it is expected that similar action should be taken against other civil servants, who are still in service despite defrauding the Centre," added Kumbhar.
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