NEW DELHI: Probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar, in the eye of a storm over the authenticity of her disability and OBC status claims that got her appointed to the civil services, on Tuesday filled a harassment case against Pune's district magistrate Suhas Divase, PTI reported quoting officials.
Meanwhile, the government took first action against Khedkar and shunted her from IAS training and directed her to return to the academy in Mussoorie at the earliest.
Khedkar has also been relieved from the District Training Programme of the Maharashtra government.
On Thursday, the
central government
established a
single-member committee
to examine the claims and details surrounding Khedkar's candidature. The ministry of personnel announced that the committee, chaired by a senior officer of the rank of Additional Secretary, would submit its report in two weeks.
Khedkar is a 2023-batch IAS officer of the Maharashtra cadre, who secured an All India Rank (AIR) of 841 in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam, sparked a controversy recently when she used her private Audi car with a red-blue beacon light and VIP number plate.
She also demanded facilities that are not available to probationary officers in the IAS.
According to a report submitted by Pune collector Suhas Diwse to the General Administration Department, Khedkar repeatedly demanded that she be provided with a separate cabin, car, residential quarters, and a peon even before joining the duty as a trainee on June 3. However, she was denied the facilities.
The IAS trainee was also accused of removing the nameplate of a senior official at the Pune collector's office when he allowed her to use his ante-chamber as her office.
Khedkar allegedly submitted fake disability and Other Backward Class (OBC) certificates to clear the civil services exam. Reports claimed that she had also submitted a mental illness certificate. In April 2022, she was asked to report at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, for verification of her disability certificate, but she did not do so, citing Covid infection.
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