Cracking down on probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar, the Centre on Friday declared that she may be terminated from service if found guilty, official sources said. Khedkar is at the centre of a controversy over alleged misuse of power and privileges. The 34-year-old officer is in the eye of the storm for allegedly misusing the disability and Other Backward Class quotas to secure a position in the IAS.
They said all documents presented by her to secure her candidature in the civil services examination and then for selection in the service will be re-examined by a single-member committee constituted by the Centre on Thursday.
"The officer may be terminated from the service if found guilty. She may face criminal charges also in case she is found to have misrepresented a fact or done any sort of manipulation in documents relied upon for her selection," a source said.
In the meantime, Khedkar had on Thursday assumed her new role as assistant collector at the Washim District Collectorate in the Vidarbha region after being transferred from Pune where she allegedly bullied everyone around and also placed a red beacon atop her private Audi (a luxury sedan) car.
Khedkar has been under intense scrutiny for allegedly manipulating benefits under the physical disabilities category and OBC quota to secure her position in the Indian Administrative Service.
The controversial officer was shunted out to Washim after Pune district collector Suhas Diwase wrote to state additional chief secretary Nitin Gadre requesting him to consider giving a posting to Khedkar in another district to avoid "administrative complications".
