The Center has dismissed Pooja Khedkar from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) with immediate effect. Official sources gave this information on Saturday. He said that the Central Government released Khedkar from the Indian Administrative Service with immediate effect under Rule 12 of the IAS (Probationary) Rules, 1954 under the order of September 6, 2024. These rules give the central government the right to release a probationer from service if he “fails to pass the re-examination or if the Central Government is convinced that the probationer was unfit for recruitment to the service or is unsuitable to be a member of the service”. Khedkar was working as a probationary IAS officer in her cadre state Maharashtra.
Let us tell you that a month ago, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) had canceled the selection of Pooja Khedkar. Pooja Khedkar has been accused of ‘submitting wrong information’ in her application for the UPSC Civil Services Examination, 2022 to get the benefit of reservation. After this, UPSC canceled Khedkar’s candidature on 31 July and also barred her from appearing in future examinations.
The commission said that in the last 15 years, Khedkar’s case was the “only case” in which it could not detect that Khedkar had appeared in the CSE exam more than the prescribed number of attempts for a candidate because “he had not only changed his name but also the names of his parents.” The UPSC has filed a police case against Khedkar alleging that he had committed fraud by appearing in the civil services exam more than the prescribed number of attempts using a fake identity.
After this, Khedkar had approached the sessions court saying that he was “in danger of immediate arrest.” However, the Delhi High Court extended the interim protection from arrest given to Pooja Khedkar till September 5. Justice Subramaniam Prasad deferred the hearing on Khedkar’s anticipatory bail plea till September 5 and gave the police the freedom to file a fresh status report in the meantime.
(Input Agency)