Curious Case Of Controversial IAS Trainee Puja Khedkar: How An Ex-Bureaucrat’s Daughter Took The Entire System For A Ride

The Union Government’s Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions on Thursday (July 11) constituted a single member committee to ascertain the validity of controversial Indian Administrative Service (IAS) trainee Dr Puja Khedkar’s candidature.

According to a statement released by the Press Information Bureau, a senior officer of the rank of Additional Secretary to Government of India has been entrusted with the task of verifying whether the Maharashtra-cadre official had falsely claimed benefits under Person with Benchmark Disability (PwBD) and Other Backward Class (OBC) category in the Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2022.

The investigating officer will also probe the validity of the PwBD and OBC status claimed by the candidate in the previous editions of the CSE. A report on this matter is expected to be submitted within two weeks.

Dr Khedkar, a 2022 batch IAS officer, has been in the news since last week. Posted as an Assistant Collector in Washim at present, she is currently serving her probationary tenure in her home cadre Maharashtra.

Dr Khedkar gained infamy when it was revealed last week that as an Assistant Collector of Pune District, she illegally took control of Deputy Collector’s office after being denied a separate cabin.

The trainee IAS officer also placed a beacon on her private Audi car without any permission from the authorities and demanded other facilities such as a residence and private staff which is allotted to officials only after probation is completed.

The probationer was subsequently transferred as a supernumerary Assistant Collector to Washim District after Pune District Collector Dr Suhas Diwase sent an internal report on her misconduct to the state’s Chief Secretary.

Soon after the Pune District Collector’s report went viral, Pune-based RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar approached the media claiming that Dr Khedkar had not only been unprofessional in her conduct but had also supposedly faked her PwBD as well as OBC Non-Creamy layer credentials to reap additional benefits in the CSE results. Kumbhar also questioned the UPSC as to how did it fail in verifying her claims.

This led to several ex-bureaucrats, politicians and a large number of UPSC aspirants demanding a fact-finding enquiry against Dr Khedkar.

At a time when sanctity of several common entrance examinations conducted by the National Testing Authority in India has been violated, UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) – which conducts examinations and oversees recruitment for several central government services – was being seen as the last institution which was unblemished.

However, until the Union government’s report is tabled and made available to the public, integrity of the UPSC as well as that of the Maharashtra State Government remains clouded.

Who Is Dr Puja Khedkar And What Benefits Did She Claim In The CSE?

Her maternal grandfather Jagannathrao Budhwant, too, had reportedly been a senior bureaucrat. Her mother Dr Manorama Khedkar is said to be the Sarpanch of the Bhalgaon Gram Panchayat.

As per the recent document available in the public domain, IAS trainee Dr Khedkar’s father last served as the Regional Officer for Aurangabad in the state government’s Maharashtra Pollution Control Board. Post retirement, Khedkar became politically active and contested in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from the Ahmednagar constituency as a candidate of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi.

In terms of the educational qualifications, Dr Khedkar in a mock interview and a UPSC CSE success talk available on YouTube claims of having finished an MBBS and subsequently receiving a fellowship to specialise in Endocrinology. After completing the same, she claims to have privately practiced as a medical practitioner before plunging into preparation for CSE.

As stated by her in a success talk video, Dr Khedkar claims to have cleared the CSE 2019 and having been appointed on the rank of Assistant Director in the Sports Authority of India (SAI). In a mock interview, she goes on to claim that after assuming charge in SAI, she continued her preparation for CSE 2021. However, she was not allocated any service then due to 'some issues pertaining to the OBC certificate' as said by her.

Further in the mock interview, Dr Khedkar said that she claimed the PwBD benefit as well as OBC Non-Creamy layer status in CSE 2021 and CSE 2022. To justify the latter, she claimed that although her father was a retired senior bureaucrat, she was dependent on mother and that her parents had been divorced.

A perusal of the CSE 2019 records shows that contrary to Dr Khedkar’s claim in the UPSC success talk given to a YouTube channel, the controversial IAS trainee did not clear the examination.

She is seen to have cleared only the preliminary exam but subsequently failed to clear the mains examination. This is contrary to her claim of having been appointed in the SAI after clearing the CSE in 2019 attempt.

And this is just the first of the many glaring gaps between Dr Khedkar’s claims and the reality as seen through the publicly available documents.

OBC Non-Creamy Layer Claim Under Scanner

As per a 2017 notification issued by the Union Government’s Department of Personnel and Training, candidate belonging to a family with an annual income of less than Rs 8 lakh only would be eligible to seek an OBC Non-Creamy Layer Certificate – which is essential to seek benefits meant for the OBCs.

Contrary to this criteria, IAS Trainee Dr Khedkar’s family income is seen way above the annual income cut off decided by the Union government.

In the election affidavit filed by Dr Khedkar’s father, the retired senior bureaucrat has declared an annual income of Rs 43.59 lakh for the financial year (FY) 2023. The same for his wife was seen at Rs 6.03 lakh in the FY23. Total value of the assets owned by the couple has been pegged at Rs 40 crore while its actual value as per market rate is said to be even higher.

As a part of the immovable assets, the couple owns several acres of agricultural land and residential properties. Some of the residential properties are located in upscale neighbourhoods such as two apartment blocks in Powai's Hiranandani Gardens, in Mumbai along with a bungalow and an apartment block in the tony Model Colony in Pune's Shivajinagar.

As per a Times of India report, the Audi luxury car used by IAS Trainee Dr Khedkar is registered in the name of Thermoverita Engineering Private Limited. The company does not find any mention in the election affidavit filed by her father.

Considering the amount of wealth owned by the family, it is not clear as to how did Dr Khedkar claim OBC Non Creamy Layer status in the CSE.

“Even if one assumes that trainee IAS Dr Khedkar’s parents are divorced and that she is dependent on her mother’s income, it feel it should not matter when it comes to considering the validity of a Non Creamy Layer status. As per my knowledge, when a candidate claims the same, annual income of both – the mother as well as the father is considered, even if they have divorced.

“Either way, her mother’s declared assets are also much higher than those permissible for claiming Non Creamy Layer status. This should make us all wonder as to how did the verification authorities in the UPSC miss this incongruous claim of Dr Khedkar,” RTI Activist Kumbhar said while speaking to Swarajya.

However, since Dr Khedkar's mother has declared an annual income of less than Rs 8 lakh from FY19 to FY23 as seen in the election affidavit above and since there is no clarity as to whether a candidate can cite mother's income in case the latter has been divorced by the father, the story will be updated once a response is received from the DoPT.

As per the publicly available records, the IAS trainee is seen to have approached the Delhi High Court twice and the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), a quasi-judicial authority, under five different applications in order to compel the UPSC to recognise her claim of 'mental illness' and 'low vision with multiple disabilities.'

On every occasion while petitioning the High Court and the CAT, she cited sub-clause (d) and (e) under Section 34 (1) of the Right of Persons With Disabilities Act, 2016. The act enshrines four per cent reservation in every government service under the Union as well as State Government.

The sub-clause (d) under Section 34 (1) of the PwD Act cited by Dr Khedkar covers ‘autism, intellectual disability, specific learning disability, mental illness.’ Sub-clause (e) which has also been claimed by her, covers 'multiple disabilities from amongst persons under clauses (a) to (d) including deaf-blindness in the posts identified for each disabilities.'

While it is not known whether Dr Khedkar claimed OBC Non-Creamy Layer status and PwBD in CSE 2019 and CSE 2020, she is seen to have benefited from both in CSE 2021 as well as CSE 2022 – the only two attempts in which she cleared the CSE.

In CSE 2021, Dr Khedkar came 679th in the Final Results but was not allocated any service. Yet, in her Instagram bio, the IAS Trainee boasts of being an Ex-Indian Revenue Services (Income Tax) official.

Whereas in CSE 2022, Dr Khedkar was ranked 821 and was allocated IAS despite low rank owing to the double benefit arising from OBC Non-Creamy Layer status and PwBD level 5 – the highest level of benchmark disability in the CSE.

UPSC does not recognise type (d) of benchmark disability pertaining to mental illness which was also claimed by Dr Khedkar while claiming PwBD Reservation in CSE.

To compel the UPSC to consider both type (d) that is, PwBD - 4 and (e) that is, PwBD - 5, three instance when Dr Khedkar approached the judicial authorities are worth considering here-

1) Approached Delhi High Court For CSE 2021 Attempt

Candidate requested Delhi High Court to direct UPSC to include 34 (1) (d- mental illness) of PwD Act, 2016 within its PwD reservation criteria. She claimed to have been suffering from Section 34 (1) (d) that is PwBD - 4, along with 34 (e- low vision and multiple disabilities) that is PwBD -5.

Although it was clear that of the two sub clauses claimed by her, 34 (1) (d) was not part of the UPSC’s reservation criteria, Delhi High Court directed UPSC to give her provisional permission to appear for the two stages of the exams and the subsequently held interview.

2) Approached CAT, Mumbai Bench For CSE 2021 Attempt

After receiving a favourable verdict from Delhi High Court, Dr Khedkar then cleared Prelims, Mains as well as Interview in CSE 2021, doubly benefitting from the relaxed cut-offs for OBC Non Creamy Layer candidates under the highest level of benchmark disability that is, PwBD-5.

Since persons with PwBD are allowed to take a scribe to write exams on their behalf with prior permission from the UPSC, it is not known whether Dr Khedkar was allowed to take a scribe.

Despite clearing all levels in this attempt, no service was allocated to her.

Subsequently, she approached the Mumbai bench of the CAT and claimed that the UPSC had been unjust to her by not recognising her 'mental illness claim' covered under Section 34 (1) (d) apart from her other claim of 'low vision and multiple disabilities' covered under Section 34 (1) (e).

In the hearing, UPSC's counsel pointed out that although Section 34 (1) (d) for mental illness was not part of reservation scheme under PwBD for CSE, they had considered her other claim of ‘low vision and multiple disabilities’ under PwBD-5 on condition that she will have to appear for medical examination to verify her low vision claim. Yet, she did not appear for the tests at least on four occasions.

CAT said that if this is the case, her candidature is liable to be cancelled. It then left it to the UPSC to decide. The latter seems to have decided not to allocate any service on account of her non-cooperation for medical tests.

3) Approached CAT, Mumbai Bench For CSE 2022 Attempt

After not having been allocated any service in CSE 2021, Dr Khedkar appeared for CSE 2022. However, after being selected for the interview stage, UPSC issued a show cause notice to her regarding the PwBD claim and asked her to appear for the medical examination.

The counsel appearing on the behalf of the UPSC pointed out that in this attempt as well, the civil services recruitment body had considered the latter of the two types of disabilities claimed by her and had allowed her to appear for exams as a PwBD-5 candidate.

The UPSC's counsel further pointed out that they had also given her a provisional permission to appear for interview, provided that there will be a medical examination for her low vision and multiple disabilities claim since it was part of the Section 34 (1) (e) of the PwD Act and was considered as a part of the reservation criteria for CSE.

Now, it is not clear whether Dr Khedkar appeared for the medical examinations for the CSE 2022 attempt. Moreover, considering that she had claimed other disabilities as well, such as mental illness, despite being aware that it was not a part of the UPSC's PwBD reservation criteria, her candidature in an ideal situation should have been cancelled.

Nonetheless, Dr Khedkar came 821st in the CSE 2022 Final Result, once again doubly benefiting from the OBC Non-Creamy Layer as well as the PwBD-5 claim.

She was allocated the IAS as she was the first among the very few candidates claiming PwBD-5 within the OBC, SC and ST reservation categories in CSE 2022. Moreover, she was alloted her home cadre Maharashtra and she also received a call letter for training from the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie.

"I don't know how can she claim a PwBD status because if you had seen her Instagram profile which she has now made private, it was clear the she was fit like anyone else. She even says in a mock interview that my favourite hobby is doodling and favourite sport is badminton. Can a PwBD person claiming low vision do doodling and play badminton?" RTI activist Kumbhar added.

Maharashtra State Government’s Magnanimity

It is not just that Dr Khedkar benefitted from the exceptional kindness shown by the judicial authorities and the UPSC. After completing her IAS training in Mussoorie, a red-carpet treatment awaited for her in her home state of Maharashtra.

As per sources, Dr Khedkar was initially posted by the state government as a probationer in Bhandara District, part of the relatively impoverished Vidarbha region. For reasons not known, her posting location was then changed to Pune District, considered to be a high-profile posting location among bureaucrats.

Special treatment given to Dr Khedkar did not stop here. Despite the Pune District Collector Dr Diwase sending a 26-page complaint against her misconduct to the state’s Chief Secretary Sujata Saunik, Dr Khedkar was merely transferred to Washim District as a supernumerary Assistant Collector.

No effort was made by the state government to look into the allegations of Dr Khedkar having falsely sought benefits by claiming to be a PwBD and through the OBC Non-Creamy Layer certificate. In case of the latter, images of Dr Khedkar’s Audi car too did not ring alarm bells in the topmost echelons of the State Secretariat in Mumbai.

“If Dr Khedkar is found to have falsely claimed to be a PwBD and to be a OBC Non-Creamy layer candidate, it won’t be the first case. Senior officials know it well that there are several state government employees who got into the service through a similar route.

“The bureaucracy as well as the political executive is going nimble on this case as she hails from the OBC Vanjari community and there is an intense Maratha versus OBC situation prevailing in the state. Considering that there are state assembly elections ahead, the ruling government cannot afford to take a stern action against her. But, if the Union government compels, there will be an action,” a senior state government official said on condition of anonymity.