UPSC cancels candidature of Puja Khedkar from IAS, debars her from all future selections

The UPSC on Wednesday said it has cancelled the provisional candidature of probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar and debarred her from all future examinations or selections.

“The UPSC has examined the available records carefully and found her guilty of acting in contravention of the provisions of the CSE-2022 Rules,” the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) said in a statement.

It said her provisional candidature for the CSE-2022 (Civil Services Examination-2022) has been “cancelled” and she has also been “debarred permanently” from all future UPSC examinations or selections.

The commission said a show cause notice (SCN) was issued to Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar on July 18 for “fraudulently” availing attempts beyond the permissible limit in the examination by “faking” her identity.

She was to submit her response to the SCN by July 25 but she requested for time till August 4 to gather the necessary documents for her response, it said.

The UPSC granted her a “final opportunity” to submit her response by 3:30 pm on July 30 but she “failed to submit her explanation within the prescribed time”, the commission said.