Puja holds immovable property worth over ₹22 crore
Puja Khedkar is under scrutiny for controversial selection, owns assets worth ₹22 crore, annual income of ₹42 lakh, facing quota violation allegations.
Pune: Probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar, who is facing questions over her controversial selection into the administrative service after details securing the post through physical disabilities category and Other Backward Class (OBC) quota surfaced, owns property worth ₹22 crore.
The 2023 batch officer has also reported an annual income of ₹42 lakh in the financial disclosures submitted to the government before joining the service on January 28, 2023.
The assets and annual income details for 2023 of Puja, available on the department of personnel and training (DOPT) portal, list seven immovable properties, including three plots, three land parcels, and a flat, mostly in Pune and Ahmednagar districts. Additionally, she owns luxury cars, gold and diamonds besides having partnership in two private companies, as per another affidavit Puja’s father and retired bureaucrat Dilip Khedkar had submitted with the Election Commission of India during the recently held Lok Sabha polls.
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The 32-year-old probationer secured the job in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) through OBC and Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) quota. The OBC category she opted for has a cap of ₹8 lakh per year. Anyone above the limit cannot avail the quota benefit for job.
“I cannot comment on questions as the rule doesn’t allow me to speak,” Puja said after joining her duty at Washim on Monday.
The probationer is questioned for availing PwBD quota as she initially avoided six times to appear at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi for medical examination to ascertain her disabilities and verify the certificate she had submitted. She skipped it citing reasons such as Covid or inability to undergo MRI.
As the matter reached the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), the quasi-judicial body refused to accept her reasoning. Puja then approached the Bombay High Court and got a stay on the CAT order, according to advocate Vaibhav Kulkarni, who appeared for her before CAT and the high court.
Puja’s father, Dilip, a retired senior regional officer from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), declared an annual income of ₹43 lakh and an estimated wealth of ₹40 crore in his affidavit for the recent LS elections.
Vijay Kumbar, state vice-president, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) while demanding probe into how Puja secured job while violating the OBC quota guidelines said, “Puja’s parents, having a non-creamy layer certificate, possess property that includes 110 acre of agricultural land, which is a violation of Agricultural Land Ceiling Act. Puja herself possesses property worth ₹17 crore with income worth ₹42 lakh.”
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Puja came into the spotlight after she invited the wrath of senior administrative officials, including district collector Suhas Diwase for demanding a separate cabin, official car, illegal occupation of the ante chamber of additional collector during his absence and unauthorised use of amber beacon on her private luxury car. Diwase mentioned about the “objectionable behaviour” of her father pointing out that he had threatened administrative officials with consequences in his report to the GAD department.
Khedkar who passed the UPSC examination under Visually Impaired Category submitted a certificate claiming her mental illness. The certificate granted her special concessions to get elevated in the IAS selection merit list despite scoring a low rank of 821.
Kumbhar said, “The case has shaken UPSC aspirants’ faith and the central institution is losing its credibility.”
Vijay Wadettiwar, leader of Opposition in Maharashtra State Assembly, said, “The selection has been done wrongly and we demand an inquiry into this.”