NEW DELHI: The central government has discharged Puja Khedkar from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) with immediate effect, over a month after the Union Public Service Commission cancelled her selection, official sources said on Saturday.
Khedkar, who was from the 2023 batch, has been accused of cheating and wrongly availing Other Backward Classes (OBC) and disability quota benefits to ensure her selection in the government service.
She has denied all allegations.
The central government, vide order dated September 6, 2024, discharged Khedkar from the Indian Administrative Service under Rule 12 of IAS (Probation) Rules, 1954, with immediate effect, the sources said.
The rules allow the central government to discharge a probationer from service if "he fails 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.
Khedkar, who was provisionally allotted the Indian Administrative Service (Maharashtra cadre), was accused of misusing power and privileges during her training in Pune.
A criminal case was registered against her in July by Delhi Police for "misrepresenting and falsifying facts" following a "thorough investigation" by the UPSC into allegations of misconduct.
Khedkar allegedly manipulated her identity to appear for the civil services examination multiple times, exceeding the permissible attempts, the Commission had found.
On July 31, the UPSC cancelled her candidature secured via the civil services examination 2022 and debarred her from future exams.
The Commission conducts the civil services exam annually in three stages -- preliminary, main and interview -- to select officers for the IAS, Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and the Indian Police Service (IPS), among others.
Meanwhile, Khedkar on Thursday told the Delhi High Court that she was willing to get herself medically examined at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), after the city police claimed that one of her disability certificates may be "forged" and "fabricated".
She made the submission while the court was dealing with her anticipatory bail plea in the criminal case.
The Delhi Police's probe in the case, registered on the UPSC's complaint, is continuing.