The private luxury car used by controversial trainee IAS Officer Pooja Khedkar has been brought to the Chaturshrangi Police Station in Pune for examination and document verification. The car, brought by the driver of the Khedkar family, is kept at the traffic division of the Chaturshrangi Police Station in Maharashtra's Pune. The beacon and "Maharashtra Administration" written on the car have been removed.
Khedkar, a 2023 batch IAS officer of the Maharashtra cadre who secured an All India Rank (AIR) of 841 in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam, sparked controversy recently by using her private Audi car with a red-blue beacon light and VIP number plate. She also demanded facilities that are not available to probationary officers in the IAS.
Khedkar allegedly submitted fake disability and Other Backward Class (OBC) certificates to clear the civil services exam. Reports claim that she also submitted a mental illness certificate. In April 2022, she was asked to report to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, for verification of her disability certificate, but she did not do so, citing a COVID infection.
Earlier on Thursday, the central government constituted a single-member committee to verify Khedkar's candidature claims and other details following a controversy over her alleged misuse of power as a civil servant.
The Ministry of Personnel announced in a statement that the committee is chaired by a senior officer of the rank of Additional Secretary under the Central Government and that it will submit its report in two weeks. Pooja Khedkar, meanwhile, refused to comment on the matter, stating that she was not authorised to speak on the issue.