Puja Khedkar case: Maharashtra govt sends report on IAS trainee to DoPT

Maharashtra govt submits report on allegations against IAS probationer Puja Khedkar to Central DoPT and committee probing the case.

MUMBAI: After a week-long inquiry the state government’s general administrative department (GAD), headed by additional chief secretary Nitin Gadre, on Thursday submitted its report on the many allegations against IAS probationer Puja Khedkar to the department of personnel and training (DoPT) of the union government. The report was also sent to the Centre’s one-member committee headed by additional secretary Manoj Diwedi probing the case.

The Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital (YCMH) at Pimpri in Pimpri-Chinchwad gave the certificate of 7% locomotor disability to trainee IAS officer Puja Khedkar in 2022. (HT)

Gadre’s report is a collation of documents procured from various agencies to test the veracity of Khedkar’s various claims she made before joining the services. Chief among them were the medical and income certificates which were furnished so that she could secure benefits of OBC and PwBD quota; her parents’ background (she claimed they were separated, which was proven to be untrue after inquiry from Pune police); her father former civil servant Dilip Khedkar’s election affidavit that showed ₹40 crore as his net worth, which contradicts Puja’s claims that the family’s annual income was below ₹8 lakh, so that she could get benefits from the OBC quota; and a certificate from RTO that stated Puja did not own a driving licence.

The report also mentions her high-handed behaviour at the Pune collectorate where she was posted and had skipped certain modules of training. According to sources, Pune divisional commissioner Chandrakant Pulkundwar had counselled Khedkar when he noted that she had missed certain parts of the training.

Khedkar courted controversy after it surfaced that she had fixed an amber beacon and the state government insignia to the Audi that she drove to work, and the dispute with a senior officer over the use of latter’s office. The comprehensive report also encapsulates the essence of her time spent as a probationary officer at the Pune collectorate. At the time Pune collector Suhas Diwase had mentioned how she claimed the additional collector Ajay More’s cabin and used her private car for government duties. She was subsequently transferred to Washim.

Sources have told HT that the Nashik divisional commissioner Praveen Gedam had also conducted an inquiry into the case over two days and submitted a report to GAD. In the report, Gedam had questioned why the non-creamy layer certificate was issued to the candidate and why her eligibility under the reservation should not be cancelled. Khedkar had procured the disability certificate from Ahmednagar, which comes under Nashik division.

Significantly, Gedam has also recommended an independent inquiry into Puja’s disability certificate, issued by the Ahmednagar District Hospital. It is learnt that while doctors at the hospital have stood by the report, Gedam has suggested the inquiry.

Officials have said if the central government accepts that she has misused the privileges for selection into the civil services, she could be removed from IAS.

Earlier, last week, the state chief secretary Sujata Saunik had sent Khedkar’s conduct report to the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration along with a report from Navi Mumbai police on how Khedkar had pressured DCP Vivek Pansare to release an accused in theft case in May 2024.