Assets Worth Rs 22 Crore, 21 Pending Traffic Challans: Details Of Trainee IAS Puja Khedkar's Life Emerge

Puja Khedkar has properties worth crores, and her Audi car has 21 complaints related to traffic violations.

Puja Khedkar has properties worth crores, and her Audi car has 21 complaints related to traffic violations.

Source : ANI

Puja Khedkar, a trainee IAS officer of the 2023 batch, is caught in a controversy related to claims she made in her UPSC application. She owns properties worth crores and has 21 complaints of traffic violations.

As per Khedkar's "statement of immovable property for the year 2023," updated as of January 1, 2024, accessed by NDTV, the officer owns five plots of land and two apartments across Maharashtra. The value of these assets comes to around Rs 22 crore. Khedkar posed as an OBC non-creamy layer candidate in her UPSC candidature.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Maharashtra unit Vice President Vijay Kumbhar has alleged that Khedkar's parents, who hold a non-creamy layer certificate, have property that includes 110 acres of agricultural land, seven flats, including one in Hiranandani, 900 grams of gold, diamonds, a gold watch worth 17 lakh rupees, and four cars. According to Kumbhar, Puja has property worth Rs 17 crore.

The AAP leader shared the details pertaining to the junior IAS officer and her parents' assets and properties in a post on X. 

“IAS officer Puja Khedkar's parents, having a non-creamy layer certificate, possess a property that includes 110 acres of agricultural land, violating the Agricultural Land Ceiling Act, 6 shops (1.6 lakh sq ft), 7 flats, including one in Hiranandani; 900 grams of gold, diamonds, a gold watch worth 17 lakh rupees, 4 cars, partnerships in two private limited companies, and one automobile firm. Puja herself possesses property worth 17 crore rupees. Shouldn’t this be investigated?” he claimed in the post. 

IAS officer Puja Khedkar's parents, having a non-creamy layer certificate, possess property that includes 110 acres of agricultural land, violating the Agricultural Land Ceiling Act, 6 shops (1.6 lakh sq ft), 7 flats, including one in Hiranandani; 900 grams of gold, diamonds, a… pic.twitter.com/V9u1P5CQ0O

— Vijay Kumbhar (@VijayKumbhar62) July 11, 2024

In Maharashtra, to be considered qualified as an OBC non-creamy layer candidate, the annual income of the parents of the applicant or the yearly income of the family should not be more than Rs 8 lakh.

Khedkar, 34, 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, as reported by news agency PTI. She hails from a family that has been dedicated to public service. Her father, Dilip Khedkar, is a retired administrative officer.

As far as the assets and properties owned by Puja Khedkar are concerned, the statement in possession of NDTV further claimed that she is the owner of two plots of land in Pune district's Mahalunge worth nearly Rs 16 crore, one in Pune district's Dhadawali worth Rs 4 crore, and two in Ahmednagar's Pachunde and Nandur worth Rs 25 lakh and Rs 1 crore, respectively.

The statement further disclosed that the plots in Pachunde and Nandur were given to her as a gift from her mother. In total, she owns over 22 acres of land. The IAS trainee also owns two apartments in Ahmednagar and Pune.

According to the NDTV report, Khedkar, who secured an all-India rank of 841, also claimed a visual and mental disability. However, she did not undergo the necessary medical tests required to corroborate her disability claims.

Puja Khedkar Has 21 Pending Traffic Fines

Amid the row over her properties and OBC certificate, Khedkar's Audi has also grabbed eyeballs after Pune Traffic Police revealed that her car has 21 complaints for traffic violations.

The complaints include allegations of reckless driving and non-compliance with traffic rules, as per an NDTV report.  Authorities have issued a notice to Khedkar and sought a penalty of Rs 27,000.

"We have come to know that your private vehicle has 'Maharashtra Government' written at the front and rear and has also fixed a beacon light,” the notice read, as quoted by NDTV. A police official visited her Pune residence to serve it, but there was nobody at home.