Puja Khedkar, the former IAS trainee officer who was stripped of her role for allegedly misusing her powers, has challenged her disqualification, saying the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has no power to act against her.
In a response filed before the Delhi High Court on the UPSC's charges against her, Puja Khedkar argued that once selected and appointed as a probationer, the UPSC ceases power to disqualify her candidature.
"DoPT (Department of Personnel and Training) alone can take action under the All India services Act, 1954 and the Probationer Rules as per Rule 19 of the CSE 2022 Rules," Khedkar mentioned.
On July 31, the UPSC cancelled Khedkar's provisional candidature and barred her from appearing in any future examinations or selections. The decision was taken after Khedkar was found guilty of misusing her powers and acting in contravention of the provisions of the CSE (Civil Services Exam) 2022 rules, including "faking her identity".
The UPSC also initiated a criminal case against Khedkar for cheating, fraudulence and forgery.
Following this, Khedkar moved the Delhi High Court challenging the UPSC's decision to cancel her provisional candidature.
In her response before the court, Khedkar claimed that she did not manipulate or misrepresent her name to UPSC.
"There has been no change in the applicant’s first name and surname, from 2012 to 2022, as consistently reflected in all DAFs," her response read.
"UPSC has verified her identity through biometric data (cy and fingerprints) collected during the personality tests of 2019, 2021, and 2022 and all the documents were verified by the Commission during the personality test on 26.05. 2022," she further said in her response.
Puja Khedkar, till 2020-21, appeared for the examination under the OBC quota using the name 'Puja Diliprao Khedkar'. In 2021-22, after exhausting all the attempts, she appeared for the exam under the OBC and PwBD (Persons with Benchmark Disabilities) quotas - this time using the name ‘Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar’. She managed to clear the examination with a rank of 821.
