New Delhi/Mumbai Probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar, who is at the center of a controversy over alleged abuse of power and privilege, may be dismissed from service if found guilty, official sources said on Friday.
They said all the documents submitted by her for securing her candidature in the civil services examination and then for her selection into the service will be re-examined by a single-member committee constituted by the Center on Thursday.
The panel has started its investigation, sources said.
"The officer may be dismissed from service if she is found guilty. She may also face criminal charges if she is found to have misrepresented a fact or made some type of manipulation in the documents upon which she was selected," said a source.
Khedkar, a 2023 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, is on parole and is currently posted with her local cadre in Maharashtra.
The 34-year-old officer is in the eye of a storm for allegedly misusing the disability and other backward classes (OBC) quota to secure a berth in the IAS.
The single-member inquiry committee of Manoj Kumar Dwivedi, additional secretary of the Department of Personnel and Training, has been asked to submit its report within two weeks, sources said.
Meanwhile, Khedkar on Thursday took up her new role as an assistant collector at the Washim District Collectorate in Vidarbha region after being transferred from Pune, where she allegedly intimidated everyone around her and also put up a red beacon. on top of a private Audi car (a luxury sedan). used by her which also had 'Government of Maharashtra' written on it.
Khedkar has been under intense scrutiny for allegedly manipulating benefits under the physical disability category and OBC quota to secure her position in the Indian Administrative Service.
The controversial officer was sent to Washim after Pune district collector Suhas Diwase wrote to the state's additional chief secretary Nitin Gadre, requesting him to consider giving Khedkar a posting in another district to avoid "administrative complications".
Diwase had sought action against Khedkar for his behaviour, including alleged aggressive treatment of junior staff, illegal occupation of Additional Collector Ajay More's anteroom and violations related to carrying a red beacon on the Audi and flashing it during the day, among other things. others.
The Pune Regional Transport Office (RTO) has issued a notice to a private company there, which is the registered owner of the Audi car used by Khedkar.
In a related development, the Navi Mumbai police informed the Maharashtra government that Khedkar had allegedly tried to pressure a senior DCP officer to release a man arrested in a robbery case, an official said on Friday.
The incident occurred on May 18 at Panvel police station, where Khedkar allegedly called Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Vivek Pansare, and urged him to release a transporter, Ishwar Uttarwade, arrested in a theft case.
They said all the documents submitted by her for securing her candidature in the civil services examination and then for her selection into the service will be re-examined by a single-member committee constituted by the Center on Thursday.
The panel has started its investigation, sources said.
"The officer may be dismissed from service if she is found guilty. She may also face criminal charges if she is found to have misrepresented a fact or made some type of manipulation in the documents upon which she was selected," said a source.
Khedkar, a 2023 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, is on parole and is currently posted with her local cadre in Maharashtra.
The 34-year-old officer is in the eye of a storm for allegedly misusing the disability and other backward classes (OBC) quota to secure a berth in the IAS.
The single-member inquiry committee of Manoj Kumar Dwivedi, additional secretary of the Department of Personnel and Training, has been asked to submit its report within two weeks, sources said.
Meanwhile, Khedkar on Thursday took up her new role as an assistant collector at the Washim District Collectorate in Vidarbha region after being transferred from Pune, where she allegedly intimidated everyone around her and also put up a red beacon. on top of a private Audi car (a luxury sedan). used by her which also had 'Government of Maharashtra' written on it.
Khedkar has been under intense scrutiny for allegedly manipulating benefits under the physical disability category and OBC quota to secure her position in the Indian Administrative Service.
The controversial officer was sent to Washim after Pune district collector Suhas Diwase wrote to the state's additional chief secretary Nitin Gadre, requesting him to consider giving Khedkar a posting in another district to avoid "administrative complications".
Diwase had sought action against Khedkar for his behaviour, including alleged aggressive treatment of junior staff, illegal occupation of Additional Collector Ajay More's anteroom and violations related to carrying a red beacon on the Audi and flashing it during the day, among other things. others.
The Pune Regional Transport Office (RTO) has issued a notice to a private company there, which is the registered owner of the Audi car used by Khedkar.
In a related development, the Navi Mumbai police informed the Maharashtra government that Khedkar had allegedly tried to pressure a senior DCP officer to release a man arrested in a robbery case, an official said on Friday.
The incident occurred on May 18 at Panvel police station, where Khedkar allegedly called Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Vivek Pansare, and urged him to release a transporter, Ishwar Uttarwade, arrested in a theft case.
