Controversial IAS officer Puja Khedkar may be terminated if found guilty: Official sources

New Delhi: Probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar, who is at the centre of a controversy over alleged misuse of power and privileges, may be terminated from service if found guilty, official sources said on Friday.

They said all documents presented by her to secure her candidature in the civil services examination and then for selection in the service will be re-examined by a single-member committee constituted by the Centre on Thursday.

"The officer may be terminated from the service if found guilty. She may face criminal charges also in case she is found to have misrepresented a fact or done any sort of manipulation in documents relied upon for her selection," a source said.

Khedkar, a 2023 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, is under probation and currently posted in her home cadre Maharashtra.

The 34-year-old officer is in the eye of storm over for allegedly misusing the disability and Other Backward Class quota to secure a position in the IAS.

The single-member probe committee of Manoj Kumar Dwivedi, Additional Secretary in the Department of Personnel and Training, has been asked to submit its report within two weeks, the sources said.

In the meantime, Khedkar had on Thursday assumed her new role as assistant collector at the Washim District Collectorate in the Vidarbha region after being transferred from Pune where she allegedly bullied everyone around and also placed a red beacon atop her private Audi (a luxury sedan) car.

Khedkar has been under intense scrutiny for allegedly manipulating benefits under the physical disabilities category and OBC quota to secure her position in the Indian Administrative Service.

The controversial officer was shunted out to Washim after Pune district collector Suhas Diwase wrote to state additional chief secretary Nitin Gadre requesting him to consider giving a posting to Khedkar in another district to avoid "administrative complications".

Diwase had sought action against Khedkar for her behaviour, including alleged aggressive treatment of junior staff, illegal occupation of the ante-chamber of additional collector Ajay More, and violations pertaining to sporting a red beacon on the Audi and flashing it during the day, among others.