Puja Khedkar's Provisional Candidature Cancelled, Debarerd From Future Exams, Selection

New Delhi: The UPSC, on Wednesday, cancelled the provisional candidature of probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar and also barred her from taking any future examinations or selections. 

An official statement by the UPSC read, “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 commission said a show cause notice (SCN) was issued to 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 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.

Court to Announce Order on Khedkar'€™s Bail Plea on Aug 1

A Delhi court is likely to pronounce on August 1 its order on the anticipatory bail plea of Khedkar, accused in a case of cheating and forgery.

Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala on Wednesday reserved the order after hearing arguments on the application filed by Khedkar, who claimed through her lawyer that she has an "imminent threat of arrest".

During the proceeding, the prosecution as well as the counsel appearing for the UPSC opposed the application, claiming she had "cheated the system".

"This person has abused the law and process of law. The chances of her abusing the law are still there. She is a resourceful person," the counsel appearing for the UPSC claimed before the court. 

(with PTI inputs)