On the same note, Puja Khedkar, a former IAS trainee officer who was disqualified for the alleged abuse of her powers, is challenging her disqualification, arguing that UPSC has no powers to take action against her in the Delhi High Court.
Even in her response to the court regarding the UPSC’s allegations, she argued that the UPSC could not disqualify her candidature once she had been appointed as a probationer. She further said that only DoPT can take action for violation under the All India Services Act, 1954, and Probationer Rules Rule 19 of CSE 2022 Rules.
The UPSC countermanded Khedkar’s provisional candidature and restricted her from future examinations on July 31, ultimately for misusing her power and violating CSE 2022, such as “faking her identity. ” The commission registered a criminal complaint against her of cheating and forgery.
When filing her papers to the court, Khedkar dismissed any changes that she made to her name by stating that she had not tampered with her name throughout the years 2012 to 2022 for the various application forms. She said that the UPSC had taken her biometrics during personality tests in 2019, 2021, and 2022, and therefore, she claimed to be the one presented as Doreen’s scriber.
Khedkar had given the examination for IAS under the OBC category under the name ‘Puja Diliprao Khedkar’ and then under the PwBD category using the name ‘Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar’, for which she was finally selected at 821 rank.
