The Disability certificates of some probationers and serving officers are under scrutiny after the Union Public Service Commission cancelled IAS probationer Puja Khedkar’s certificate. According to sources, the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) is looking at medical certificates of six other civil servants whose certificates were flagged off on social media platforms.
Out of these six civil servants, five are from IAS and one IRS.
This comes after Khedkar’s candidature was cancelled as UPSC found the charges against her of violating the examination rules and guidelines, correct.
“The UPSC has examined the available records carefully and found her guilty of acting in contravention of the provisions of the CSE-2022 Rules. Her provisional candidature for the CSE-2022 has been cancelled and she has also been debarred permanently from all the future Examinations/Selections of the UPSC,” the central government’s department of personnel and training (DoPT) said in a statement.
Meanwhile, a Delhi court on Thursday rejected the anticipatory bail plea filed by Khedkar, accused in a case of cheating and forgery. “The investigation agency needs to widen the scope of the investigation. The agency is directed to find out the candidates recommended [by the UPSC] in the recent past who have availed benefits beyond the permissible age limit under OBC quota and those who availed Persons with Benchmark Disabilities benefits despite not being entitled to it,” the court ordered.
Why UPSC Cancelled Khedkar’s Candidature
The UPSC had sent a show cause notice to Puja on July 18 for “fraudulently availing attempts beyond the permissible limit provided for in the Examination Rules by faking her identity”.
Puja Khedkar, as per experts, has queered the pitch for herself by refusing to put her side of the story before the commission.
As per the UPSC, she first sought an extension from July 25 to August 4. The commission considered her request and granted time until 3.30 pm on July 30, making it clear that this was her final opportunity.
“Despite extension in time allowed to her, she failed to submit her explanation within the prescribed time,” the DoPT statement said.
Puja had in 2023 challenged UPSC’s decision on her candidature before the Central Administrative Tribunal. If she were to challenge the 2024 UPSC ruling again before CAT, the commission can argue that she was given enough opportunities to present her case but she chose not to appear.
The Union Public Service Commission has said that it has thoroughly examined the available data of more than 15,000 finally recommended candidates from 2009 to 2023 and only Puja Khedkar was found guilty of sabotaging the UPSC Exam Rules.
“No other candidate has been found to have availed more number of attempts than permitted under the CSE Rules. In the lone case of Ms Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar, the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of the UPSC could not detect her number of attempts primarily due to the fact that she changed not only her name but also her parents’ name,” it said.
The commission said that Puja misused the action that the UPSC took in “good faith” while scrutinising the certificates of candidates. “UPSC does only a preliminary scrutiny of the certificates viz. whether the certificate has been issued by the competent authority, the year to which the certificate pertains, issuing date of the certificate, whether there is any overwriting on the certificate, format of the certificate etc. Generally, the certificate is taken as genuine, if it has been issued by the competent authority. The UPSC neither has the mandate nor the wherewithal to check the veracity of thousands of certificates submitted by the candidates every year,” it said.
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