With the case of trainee Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer Pooja Khedkar dominating national headlines over the past week, several former and active civil servants have been accused of similar malpractices.
These allegations have brought the spotlight on false caste, income, and disability certificates, as these civil servants in question reportedly joined the Civil Services by misusing the Persons with Disabilities (PwD), Other Backward Classes (OBC), and Economically Weaker Sections quotas by producing dubious certificates for these categories.
While Pooja Khedkar’s OBC and PwD certificates are currently under investigation, these other cases did not seem to have grabbed the Central Government’s attention. In this context, let’s look at the consequences of entering the Civil Services with the help of false information, as laid out by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and the Department of Personnel Training (DoPT).
In a Frequently Asked Questions circular about Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), and OBC reservations, the DoPT refers to an Office Manual issued May 10, 1993, which states that government servants who furnished false information to secure an appointment should not be retained in service.
If the culprit is in training, they must be discharged from their services right away, and if they are permanent, they must be subject to an inquiry and be discharged after being proven guilty. However, the DoPT adds that no additional penalty must be levied, apart from the necessary action taken as per the Indian Penal Code for producing false certificates.
As for false EWS certificates, the DoPT says that candidates whose claim to belong to the EWS category is fake will also be discharged from service with immediate effect without prejudice, and will be subject to action as per the Indian Penal Code for producing false certificates.
This information was issued by the DoPT in a circular of FAQs on the EWS reservation, issued September 19, 2022.
Another FAQs circular, issued by the Examination Branch of the UPSC, states that candidates found to be providing false information to the commission will be disqualified and/or debarred from writing the UPSC Examinations.
In addition, the Supreme Court in 2017 also declared that those found to have used false caste certificates to seek education or employment will lose their degrees and jobs, and are liable for punishment.
