IAS Pooja Khedkar case: Untoward, momentary lapse or institutional corruption?

After the National Testing Agency (NTA), the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is the latest Government organisation to be hit by a storm of controversy — and at the centre of this storm is one Dr Pooja Khedkar. 

A trained doctor, Pooja is a probationary officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) from the 2022 cadre and was posted as an Assistant Collector in Pune in 2023. She hails from a family of public servants and politicians — her father, Diliprao Khedkar, is a retired officer of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, and he even contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA). 

Pooja stands accused of producing fake caste and disability certificates as part of her entry into the IAS cadre and misusing her authority for special privileges. 

Claim to infamy

Dr Pooja Khedkar’s rise — or as it would turn out, fall — into the limelight happened when she was accused of misconduct, including using an official beacon light, VIP number plate and a “Government of Maharashtra” sticker on her private luxury vehicle and demanding the Collector’s Office for a separate cabin, armed security personnel, and other privileges not usually given to an officer-in-training. 

She is also accused of occupying the office cabin of Pune Additional Collector Ajay More, rearranging his furniture and removing his nameplate from his desk. 

These details emerged into the public light through a complaint filed by Pune District Collector Suhas Diwase about Pooja’s behaviour on June 24. 

In the report, he also alleges that Pooja’s father used his political influence to meet his daughter’s demands. 

The matter of fake certificates

Following the District Collector’s complaint, several concerns were raised about the validity of Pooja’s caste and disability certificates. 

Vijay Khumbhar, Right to Information (RTI) activist and Maharashtra State President of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) disclosed, on July 10, that Pooja appeared for the Civil Service Examination (CSE) in 2021 from the non-creamy layer Other Backward Classes (OBC) category, despite her father having a net worth of Rs 40 crore, and an annual income of Rs 49 lakh. 

Moreover, several news reports also state that Pooja herself possesses assets worth Rs 22 crore.

To add some context, OBC candidates are eligible for non-creamy layer reservation if their parental income is below Rs 8 lakh per annum, and/or either of their parents is employed as a Group C or Group D Central Government employee.

Despite not meeting either criterion, Pooja was able to benefit from non-creamy layer OBC reservations.

In addition to producing a fake caste certificate, she is also accused of faking disabilities to avail the benefits under the People with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) category. Despite claiming to be suffering from “blindness in both eyes” and “mental illnesses”, Pooja allegedly failed to attend medical examinations as mandated by the UPSC in 2022, citing the COVID-19 pandemic as her reason.

Several news organisations report that she missed her medical examination six times in a row.

When asked to appear for an MRI scan at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi to determine the cause of her blindness in both eyes, she reportedly submitted an MRI report from a private hospital. The UPSC rejected this and challenged her candidature at the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), which then disallowed her posting on February 23, 2023.

However, Mint reports that her MRI report was accepted by the CAT later, and she was allowed to join as a probationary officer. Given her background, it is speculated that she used her father’s influence and reach as a former CivilSservant to receive joining orders. 

Government action

Following the disclosure of these details, Pooja was given a “punishment posting” as a supernumerary assistant collector at Washim, in the Vidarbha district on July 11. 

In addition, the Central Government constituted a one-member panel on the same day to investigate these allegations. The Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy Of Administration and the Maharashtra Chief Secretary’s office also initiated investigations into the matter. 

While the focus of the government and the media largely lies on the individual actions of Dr Pooja Kedhkar and her family and their misuse of affirmative action policies, many are questioning how the Department of Personnel Training (DoPT) and the UPSC could even issue joining orders to her despite such flagrant violations of the law. 

“Systemic failure very apparent”

Echoing the above sentiments, MG Devasahayam, a retired Civil Servant says that this matter is the manifestation of a deep-rooted issue that has been plaguing India in recent years — the slow erosion of our institutions. 

He adds that back in the day, the IAS Selection Commission was comprised of upstanding men and women of high morals, and they would ensure that only morally upright and dutiful candidates entered the service. 

“Now, there is corruption and dishonesty everywhere. The higher-ups do not want candidates with integrity,” he alleges. 

Talking more specifically about Pooja’s case, Devasahayam questions how she was posted in her home state for her probationary training in the first place. 

He further alleges that she could get away with submitting falsified documents and demanding unheard-of privileges due to her family’s influence on the system. “Both her OBC certificate and medical records, despite being inauthentic, received clearance. It is very evident that she bought her way into the IAS, and assumed that she could get away with making ridiculous demands,” he explains. 

According to him, the fact that these lapses became public two years after she cleared the Civil Services Exam is indicative of the gradual collapse of our democratic institutions, where the rich and the corrupt can bend the system and rules to suit their interests. 

Double standards of the DoPT?

Another glaring issue that stands out in this case is the lackadaisical approach of the DoPT and the UPSC in verifying the authenticity of the certificates submitted by Pooja. 

“It is very evident that the OBC reservations are being manipulated to favour the children of the rich and affluent,” states Ketan, an Economics teacher at a UPSC coaching institute, whose own story acts as a parallel to that of Pooja. 

Ketan, who also belongs to an OBC caste, appeared for the CSE in 2015 and cleared the exam with an All-India Rank (AIR) of 860. However, the DoPT refused to let him join the service as it deemed him ineligible for OBC reservations. 

In lengthy posts on social media sites X and Reddit comparing his experience with Pooja’s case, he wrote that his father was a clerk at a public sector bank and got his first promotion at the age of 46, and could be classified as a Group C Central Government employee. 

However, the DoPT maintained that the categorisation of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) including public banks was not for OBC certification. 

In fact, he says that the DoPT even tried to justify his ineligibility for non-creamy layer reservations based on his father’s income. 

Seeking justice, Ketan and several other candidates like him, who were children of “mazdoors, lab assistants, and factory line workers in PSUs, PSBs, and government universities” approached the Madras (Chennai) and Delhi High Courts, the CAT, the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC), and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), he writes. 

“All these bodies ruled in our favour and directed the DoPT to consider our cases,” he said. However, the DoPT refused and moved to the Supreme Court, challenging these rulings – and the matter is yet to be listed for hearing. 

Pointing at the difference in the DoPT’s attitude towards them and Pooja Khedkar, Ketan says that the latter could escape the department’s scrutiny much more easily. 

“Even Pooja Kedhkar appealed to the CAT when her candidature was challenged by UPSC. The only difference between us and someone like her is that the DoPT eventually gave in for her, while we are yet to receive our allotment eight years after clearing the CSE,” he laments. 

Reputation killer, or learning moment?

As this incident unfolded, naysayers and critics, especially on social media, bemoaned the reputation of the UPSC as an incorruptible body which now stands tarnished, and how the Civil Service Examination can also be susceptible to such malpractice. 

“This incident is a shame on the UPSC and an insult to genuine candidates who truly want to serve the public,” says Devasahayam. When asked if this case reinforces the worst stereotypes about Civil Servants, he unequivocally agreed. 

“If the government really means business, and wants to retain the public’s trust in our institutions, Pooja Kedhkar must be summarily terminated from service,” he declares. 

However, this incident may not put such a large dent in the reputation of the UPSC, argues retired IPS officer-turned-politician JD Laxminarayana. “While such aberrations take place, they do not represent the functioning of the UPSC as a whole,” he asserts. 

He adds that the government has responded quickly by setting up a panel to investigate the matter. “Maybe this incident would be a learning moment for the government and UPSC. The investigation would certainly reveal the lapses that enabled this, and I am sure that steps would be taken for improvement,” he says. 

He also hopes that the UPSC introduces a psychological assessment test to determine the candidate’s mental state, aside from the written exam and interview rounds.