Puja Khedkar, the trainee IAS officer in the eye of a massive controversy over alleged misuse of power and privileges, has said “The media trial proving me guilty is wrong”. The 34-year-old faces accusations of using fraudulent means to clear her civil services exam, including allegedly misrepresenting herself under the physical disabilities and non-creamy layer of OBC categories.
“Our Indian Constitution is based on the fact innocent until proven guilty. So, media trial proving me guilty is actually wrong. It is the basic right of everyone. You can say it is alleged but proving me guilty like this is wrong,” she said.
Ms Khedkar said she will testify in front of the expert committee and she will “accept the decision of the committee”. “Whatever my submission is, I will give it in front of the committee and the truth will come out,” she added.
Questions were raised about Ms Khedkar’s appointment in the civil services after a Pune RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar alleged that she did not fall under the OBC non-creamy layer as her father had assets worth Rs 40 crore.
“As per the rules, only those come under the OBC non-creme layer category whose parents are under 8 lac per annum of income, but their income shows that it is 40 crore. Her parents contested the recent Lok Sabha polls and all the property details are there in the affidavit,” he said.
She is also facing scrutiny for allegedly abusing her authority and submitting fraudulent disability and caste certificates to qualify for the civil service exam.
Amid the ongoing row, it has now emerged the probationary IAS officer had submitted a non-creamy layer OBC Certificate to secure admission to MBBS in 2007.
Arvind Bhore, the Director of Shrimati Kashibai Navale Medical College and General Hospital, said Ms Khedkar secured a seat for the MBBS course in the college through the Association of Management of Unaided Private Medical and Dental Colleges of Maharashtra (AMUPDMC) entrance test and had scored 146 marks out of 200. She was enrolled in the college’s first batch in 2007. She had secured the seat through the nomadic tribe-3 category furnishing a non-creamy layer OBC certificate, he alleged.
This was the first time Ms Khedkar attempted to secure such a medical certificate. In August 2022. she applied for a disability certificate from Pune but was shot down by doctors who examined her and said “it is not possible”.
When she was asked about these medical certificates, she said, “The expert committee has been established to probe these technical things. I will submit my response to the committee. Let the experts decide. Whatever the case is, it will come in front of the public.”
She has also been accused of various corruption cases, including the unauthorised use of a vehicle equipped with a beacon light and demanding privileges such as a separate office, official vehicle, and staff, which are typically not granted to trainee officers
