Last Updated on 27/07/2024 by Ankita Jain
The Pune police has sent a report to the Maharashtra government on the marital status of controversial trainee IAS officer Pooja Khedkar’s parents, an official said on Friday. The couple, Dilip and Manorama Khedkar, were “legally separated”, the police official said.
The central government had directed the Pune police to provide information about the marital status of Pooja’s parents. These instructions were given by the Center amid allegations against Pooja that Pooja had wrongly taken advantage of OBC non-creamy layer in the UPSC examination by claiming that her parents were separated.
The report will be sent to the centre
The official said that we sent the report to the state government on Wednesday and it will be sent to the Center. 2023 batch IAS officer Pooja Khedkar was accused of misusing her privileges by demanding benefits and facilities she was not entitled to during her probation in Pune.
A criminal case was registered against him in Delhi last week for allegedly making “misrepresentations and incorrect facts”. The UPSC has also issued a show-cause notice regarding cancellation of his candidature for the 2022 exam and is considering barring him from future exams.
Pooja Khedkar had claimed divorce
To avail the Other Backward Classes (OBC) non-creamy layer quota in the UPSC exam, Khedkar had reportedly claimed that her parents were separated and she lives with her mother.
During a mock interview before cracking UPSC, Khedkar was asked why her family income was shown as ‘zero’ when her father was a civil servant. In a video of the interview that went viral, she was seen saying that her parents are separated and she is not in touch with her father.
Pooja’s mother Manorama Khedkar is in jail
According to the rules, only those candidates can avail the benefit of OBC non-creamy layer category whose parents’ income is less than Rs 8 lakh per annum. Puja’s mother Manorama Khedkar is currently in jail for threatening a person with a gun over a land dispute in 2023. Retired government official Dilip Khedkar is also an accused in this case. On Thursday, he was granted anticipatory bail by a Pune court.