The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has cancelled the selection of Puja Khedkar as a trainee IAS officer. Additionally, Khedkar has been permanently barred from taking any future UPSC exams after being found guilty of identity fraud.
The UPSC has officially stated that Puja Khedkar violated the Civil Services Examination (CSE) rules by falsely availing more attempts than permitted. According to the commission, a Show Cause Notice (SCN) was issued to Khedkar on July 18, 2024, for her fraudulent actions. She was found to have faked her identity to circumvent the attempt limits set by the examination rules.
Failure To Respond to Show Cause Notice
The 34-year-old was initially given until July 25 to respond to the SCN but requested an extension until August 4. The UPSC granted an extension until July 30, emphasizing that this would be her final opportunity to present an explanation. Despite this extension, Khedkar failed to submit any response within the prescribed time.
Upon careful examination of the available records, the UPSC determined that Khedkar had indeed violated the CSE-2022 rules. As a result, her provisional candidature for the CSE-2022 was cancelled, and she has been permanently debarred from all future UPSC examinations and selections.
Examination of Past Candidates
In the aftermath of this incident, the UPSC conducted a thorough review of data from over 15,000 candidates who cleared the IAS screening process between 2009 and 2023. This extensive investigation revealed that, apart from Khedkar, no other candidate had exceeded the permissible number of attempts under the CSE rules.
The UPSC acknowledged that Khedkar’s case slipped through their Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) due to her changing not only her name but also her parents’ names. In response, the UPSC is working to further strengthen its SOPs to prevent such incidents in the future.
The UPSC clarified that it performs only a preliminary scrutiny of the candidates’ certificates, generally accepting them as genuine if issued by a competent authority. The commission highlighted that it lacks the mandate and resources to verify the authenticity of thousands of certificates submitted annually. The scrutiny and verification of certificates’ genuineness are typically carried out by the mandated authorities.