Pune court grants Puja Khedkar's father interim protection from arrest

A Pune Session Court has granted interim protection from arrest till July 25 to Dilip Khedkar, father of controversial probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar, in a case where he is accused of threatening a local farmer over a land dispute.

Dulip Khedlar filed an anticipatory bail plea in court on Friday.

Khedkar is co-accused with his wife, Manorama Khedkar, of allegedly threatening a local farmer over a land dispute.

Manorama Khedkar was arrested in the same case On Thursday, and remanded in police custody until July 20.

Meanwhile, the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has sealed a company in Pune named ThermoVerita linked to Manorama Khedkar for alleged tax default of Rs 2.77 lakh.

This development comes amidst controversy surrounding probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar, who had utilised the company's address to obtain a disability certificate from YCM Hospital Pimpri Chinchwad.

"The property tax for 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 for Thermoverita India Pvt. Ltd has been pending for the last two years. Additionally, the current year's outstanding dues are also unpaid," said Shekhar Singh, Commissioner of PCMC.

"As their dues remained unpaid in 2023, we initially issued notices and subsequently disconnected their water supply as a graded response. Since the dues have been outstanding for the last two years, our next step was to seal the property."

He added that the total outstanding amount for the last two years is Rs 1.96 lakh, and including the current year's dues, the total comes to Rs 2.77 lakh.

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) said on Friday that it has registered a First Information Report (FIR) against IAS probationer Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar for allegedly "faking her identity to fraudulently avail attempts beyond permissible limit".

The Commission said it has also issued her a show cause notice for the cancellation of her selection and debarment from future examinations.

From this investigation, it has been revealed that she fraudulently availed attempts beyond the permissible limit under the Examination Rules by faking her identity by way of changing her name, her father's and mother's names, her photograph or signature, her email ID, mobile number, and address, the UPSC said in a press release.

Khekar was a provisionally recommended candidate for the Civil Service Examination, 2022.