Submitting a second status report on the Puja Khedkar “fake disability certificate case” before the Delhi High Court, the Delhi Police stated that their probe shows that one of the disability certificates submitted by Khedkar to UPSC is ‘likely’ to have been forged. This development took place days before the Delhi High Court was due to hear the anticipatory bail plea of former IAS trainee officer Puja Khedkar.
The said report dated September 2nd, filed by IPS Pankaj Arora (), the incumbent Assistant Commissioner of Police (Central Range), stated that Ms. Puja Khedkar submitted the two disability certificates to the Union Public Service Commission, in 2022 and 2023 respectively. The police said after they examined the documents, which were purportedly issued by the issuing medical authority in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar, and verified with the official, one of the two certificates was not found on their records.
The concerned authority stated, “Disability Certificate (Multiple Disability….has not been issued by the Issuing Medical Authority, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, as per our Civil Surgeon Office Records, hence the possibility of Disability Certificate forged and fabricated is more likely.“
Of the two certificates issued on January 18th, 2021, one certificate listed her disabilities as low vision in both eyes with 40 per cent disability and mental illnesses with 20 per cent disability, the second certificate listed hearing impairment in the right ear to 10 per cent disability, locomotor disability up to 15 per cent, and low vision in both eyes with up to 40 per cent disability. The second certificate — with no mental illness disability and instead hearing and locomotor disability —was not found to be on record.
Ms. Khedkar’s submission before the Delhi High Court endorsed that she was selected based on merit in the category of Persons with Benchmark Disability (PwBD) in her fifth attempt against the nine attempts available under the category and that her prior attempts from 2012 to 2017 were not under the same category. Hence she said the multiple attempts under the two types of categories ‘cannot be mixed up to disentitle’ her as a disabled candidate.
Who is Puja Khedkar?
Ms. Puja Khedkar, a 2022 batch ex-IAS officer under training, became a subject of intense discourse over the internet and national television after allegations arose that she had lied about her mental and visual condition, through “fraudulently” obtained certificates from the District Civil Hospital in Ahmednagar, to secure an officer’s post despite an unremarkable score in the ultra-competitive qualifying exam. Khedkar was “diagnosed” with Locomotor Disability and a 7% permanent disability concerning her left lower limb. She also obtained a second certificate, which covered both low vision and mental illness (depression).
The conundrum was fueled when it was learned that Khedkar, while going through the selection process for an IAS post, had refused to undergo a mandatory medical test to confirm her disabilities six times in a row! It is pertinent to mention that she secured an All India Rank of 821 under the Physical Disability (PWD-5) category in the 2022 UPSC exams.
The entire fiasco unfurled after she made demands for a separate cabin and staff during her Pune posting. She demanded a red-blue beacon light, a VIP number plate, along with a ‘Maharashtra government’ board affixed to her private Audi car and other shenanigans while being posted as the Super Numerary Assistant Collector in Pune.
It is pertinent to mention that a Delhi court dismissed Khedkar’s anticipatory bail plea on August 1st. The Delhi High Court on August 12th granted Khedkar interim protection from arrest which has continued so far. As of now, Justice Subramonium Prasad is due to take up Khedkar’s anticipatory bail plea anytime today.
