UPSC Cancels Puja Khedkar’s Candidature for Civil Services Exam 2022
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has taken strict action against Puja Khedkar, a candidate for the Civil Services Examination 2022. On Wednesday, the UPSC cancelled her provisional candidature and permanently banned her from all future exams.
Reason for Cancellation
Earlier, on July 18, the UPSC issued a show cause notice to Khedkar for fraudulently exceeding the permissible number of attempts by faking her identity. She was given until July 25 to respond but requested an extension until August 4 to gather necessary documents. The UPSC granted her time until July 30, making it clear that no further extensions would be allowed.
Despite the extension, Khedkar failed to submit her explanation. The UPSC examined the available records and found her guilty of violating the Civil Services Examination 2022 rules. Consequently, her provisional candidature was cancelled, and she was permanently debarred from all future UPSC exams.
UPSC’s Further Actions
In light of this case, the UPSC reviewed data from over 15,000 candidates recommended from 2009 to 2023 and found no other instances of candidates exceeding the permissible number of attempts. The UPSC acknowledged that Khedkar’s case went undetected because she changed her name and her parents’ names. The commission is now working to strengthen its Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to prevent such incidents in the future.
Legal Proceedings
Meanwhile, Delhi’s Patiala House Court has reserved the order on an anticipatory bail plea filed by Khedkar. She claimed her innocence and argued that no prima facie offence could be identified against her based on the FIR.
Doubts Revealed
UPSC -: UPSC stands for Union Public Service Commission. It is an organization in India that conducts exams to select people for various government jobs.
Candidature -: Candidature means being a candidate or applying for something, like a job or an exam.
Civil Services Exam -: The Civil Services Exam is a big test in India that people take to get important government jobs, like becoming an IAS or IPS officer.
Provisional -: Provisional means temporary or not final. It means something that can change later.
Permanently banned -: Permanently banned means that Puja Khedkar can never take the UPSC exams again.
Permissible number of attempts -: Permissible number of attempts means the allowed number of times someone can try to pass the exam.
Faking her identity -: Faking her identity means pretending to be someone else or giving false information about who she is.
Show cause notice -: A show cause notice is a letter asking someone to explain why they did something wrong before any action is taken against them.
