UPSC cancels candidature of Puja Khedkar from IAS, debars her from all future selections
New Delhi, Jul 31: The UPSC on Wednesday said it has cancelled the provisional candidature of probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar and debarred her from all future examinations or selections.
"The UPSC has examined the available records carefully and found her guilty of acting in contravention of the provisions of the CSE-2022 Rules," the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) said in a statement.
It said the provisional candidature of the 2023 batch probationary IAS officer for the CSE-2022 (Civil Services Examination-2022) has been "cancelled" and she has also been "debarred permanently" from all future examinations or selections conducted by the UPSC.
The commission said it was the "lone case" of Khedkar in the last 15 years where it could not detect that a candidate has exceeded the number of attempts permitted to a candidate for writing the CSE exam "primarily due to the fact that she changed not only her name but also her parents' name".
It said the UPSC was in the process of "further strengthening the SOP to ensure that such a case does not recur in the future."
The commission said a show-cause notice was issued to Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar on July 18 for "fraudulently" availing attempts beyond the permissible limit in the examination by "faking" her identity.
She was asked to submit her response to the notice by July 25 but she requested time till August 4 to gather the necessary documents for her response, it said.
The UPSC granted her a "final opportunity" to submit her response by 3:30 pm on July 30 but she "failed to submit her explanation within the prescribed time", the commission said.
The commission said in the backdrop of the case of Khedkar, it "thoroughly examined" the data of more than 15,000 "finally recommended candidates" from the civil services exams for the last 15 years (2009-2023) with respect to the number of attempts availed by them.
After this detailed exercise, barring the case of Khedkar, no other candidate has been found to have availed more number of attempts than permitted under the CSE rules.
"In the lone case of Ms Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar, the standard operating procedure (SOP) of the UPSC could not detect her number of attempts primarily due to the fact that she changed not only her name but also her parents' name," it said.
Taking up the issue of complaints regarding the submission of false certificates (specifically OBC and PwBD categories) are concerned, the UPSC said it only does a "preliminary" scrutiny of the certificates like whether the certificate has been issued by the competent authority, the year to which the certificate pertains, issuing date of the certificate, whether there is any overwriting on the certificate, format of the certificate etc.
"Generally, the certificate is taken as genuine, if it has been issued by the competent authority. The UPSC neither has the mandate nor the wherewithal to check the veracity of thousands of certificates submitted by the candidates every year," it said.
However, the UPSC said, it is understood that scrutiny and verification of genuineness of certificates is carried out by the authorities mandated with the task.
The UPSC has registered a police case against Khedkar for allegedly fraudulently availing attempts in the civil services examination by faking her identity to take the exam beyond the permissible attempts.
The commission conducts the civil services exam annually in three stages -- preliminary, main and interview -- to select officers for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and the Indian Police Service (IPS), among others.
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PM Modi embarks on tour of UAE, Europe
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday embarked on a six-day tour of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Italy to enhance bilateral ties amid the ongoing geopolitical upheaval.
Safeguarding energy flows, mitigating trade disruptions from the West Asia crisis and enhancing cooperation in critical technologies are expected to be the key focus of the trip.
Over the next six days, the prime minister will engage with several world leaders across a wide-ranging agenda aimed at strengthening India's global partnerships, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on social media.
PM Modi's first destination will be the UAE, where he will hold wide-ranging talks with President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan with a focus on advancing the India-UAE comprehensive strategic partnership and exchange views on the West Asia conflict.
The prime minister will be in the Gulf nation for around four hours before embarking on the trip to Europe.
Following the Modi-Al Nahyan talks, India and the UAE are expected to firm up two significant pacts to boost cooperation in areas of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and strategic petroleum reserves.
The escalating conflict between the US and Iran has severely destabilised global energy markets, primarily due to Tehran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz -- a vital transit chokepoint through which approximately 20 per cent of the world's total petroleum supply flows.
PM Modi and President Al Nahyan are also expected to deliberate on boosting bilateral trade and investment ties.
The UAE is India's third-largest trade partner and its seventh-largest source of investment cumulatively over the past 25 years. With the UAE hosting over 4.5 million - strong Indian community, the visit will also be an opportunity to discuss their welfare, officials said.
On the second leg of his trip, Modi will visit the Netherlands from May 15 to 17. It will be his second trip to the Netherlands after 2017.
Modi will meet King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima, and hold talks with Prime Minister Rob Jetten.
The MEA said Modi's visit will provide an opportunity to further deepen and expand the multi-faceted partnership.
The Netherlands is one of India's largest trade destinations in Europe, with bilateral trade worth USD 27.8 billion in 2024-25. The European nation is India's fourth-largest investor with a cumulative foreign direct investment of USD 55.6 billion.
Modi's visit will build on the momentum of high-level engagements and close cooperation spanning diverse sectors, including defence, security, innovation, green hydrogen, semiconductors and a Strategic Partnership on Water, the officials said.
From the Netherlands, the prime minister will travel to Sweden at the invitation of his Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristersson for a two-day trip from May 17 to 18.
Modi had earlier visited Sweden in 2018 for the first-ever India-Nordic Summit.
The prime minister is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with PM Kristersson to review the entire gamut of bilateral relations and explore new avenues of cooperation to enhance bilateral trade, which reached USD 7.75 billion in 2025.
In their talks, the two sides are set to focus on boosting bilateral ties in areas of green transition, artificial intelligence (AI), emerging technologies, startups, resilient supply chains, defence, space, climate action and people-to-people ties, according to the MEA.
The two prime ministers will also address the European Round Table for Industry, a leading pan-European business leaders forum, along with Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, the officials said.
In the fourth leg of his visit, Modi will undertake a visit to Norway from May 18 to 19 to attend the third India-Nordic Summit as well as to hold bilateral talks with the leadership of the country.
This will be the first visit of PM Modi to Norway. It will mark the first visit by an Indian prime minister to Norway in 43 years.
Modi will call on King Harald V and Queen Sonja, and hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.
He will also address the India-Norway Business and Research Summit along with the Norwegian prime minister, the MEA said.
"The visit will provide an opportunity to review the progress made in India-Norway relations and explore avenues to further strengthen them, with a focus on trade and investment, capitalising on the India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement, as well as on clean and green tech and blue economy," it said.
The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) nations are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
The third India-Nordic summit will take place in Oslo on May 19 and it will be joined by Modi and his counterparts from Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Sweden.
It will build upon the two previous summits held in Stockholm in April 2018 and in Copenhagen in May 2022, and is expected to impart a more strategic dimension to India's relationship with the Nordic countries.
On the final leg of his visit, PM Modi will undertake an official visit to Italy from May 19 to 20 at the invitation of his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni.
PM Modi had last visited Italy in June 2024 for the G7 Summit.
During the visit, he will call on President Sergio Mattarella and hold talks with PM Meloni.
The visit takes place in the backdrop of a strong momentum in bilateral ties with both sides proactively implementing the joint strategic action plan 2025-2029, a comprehensive road map for cooperation in various sectors, the MEA said.
The India-Italy bilateral trade reached USD 16.77 billion in 2025.
The focus of Modi's trip to Italy is likely to be to bolster ties in areas of investment, defence and security, clean energy, innovation, and science and technology.
