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Police report on Puja’s parents: Both legally separated, but ‘living together’
During a viral mock interview given to a private coaching institute during her civil services exam selection process, Puja had claimed that her parents are separated, and her income is “zero”
The marital status report of IAS probationer Puja Khedkar’s parents submitted by the Pune police to the Centre states that the couple is separated legally even as they have been “living together”, officials said on Saturday.
“We have submitted the report to the Centre on the marriage status of IAS officer Puja Khedkar parents, Dilip and Manorama Khedkar,” said a senior police officer involved in drafting the report, adding that the details are confidential.
The police report submitted on Wednesday states that Puja’s parents divorced in 2010 and are “living together”.
The central government had last week instructed the Pune police to provide information on the marital status of the parents of Puja following allegations of the probationer misusing disability and Other Backward Class (non-creamy layer) quotas to secure her candidature in the civic service exam.
During a viral mock interview given to a private coaching institute during her civil services exam selection process, Puja had claimed that her parents are separated, and her income is “zero”.
While the annual income limit under the non-creamy layer is capped at ₹8 lakh, the income of Puja’s parents as per officials documents far exceeds it.
In his Lok Sabha 2024 election affidavit, Dilip declared assets of over ₹40 crore. Puja also reported an annual income of ₹42 lakh and property worth ₹22 crore in the financial disclosures submitted to the government before joining the civil services on January 28, 2023. As per the income tax returns filed for 2022-23 and accessed by HT, Dilip’s income stood at ₹43,59,230 and his wife’s ₹6,03,010.
Dilip had declared Manorama as his wife and shared information of her assets in the poll document
Hindustan Times on July 25 had reported that Dilip and Manorama separated by divorce under Section 12 B of the Hindu Marriage Act on June 25, 2010, according to an order issued by Pune Family Court signed by Principal Judge VV Shahapurkar.
