Pune:

A Pune court on Friday granted bail to Manorama Khedkar, the mother of former probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar, in a criminal intimidation case related to a land dispute.

Additional Sessions Judge AN Mare granted the bail, according to Manorama Khedkar’s counsel, advocate Nikhil Malani The judge ordered Manorama Khedkar’s release upon executing a personal bond of Rs 50,000 with one or more sureties of the same amount.

“The applicant shall not contact the informant and witnesses in the case by any mode of communication and shall not try to influence them in any manner,” stated the court order.

The order also specified that the applicant shall not enter the jurisdiction of Paud Police Station until the investigation is completed. She is required to cooperate with the investigating agency and report to the concerned police station as and when required by the investigating officer. For such purposes, she can enter the jurisdiction of the police station.

Additionally, the order stated that the applicant shall not leave the Pune district without informing the investigating officer and the jurisdictional magistrate until the investigation is completed.

The Delhi Court on Thursday dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar, a Trainee IAS officer and said the allegations against the accused are grave, and require thorough investigation.

Custodial interrogation of the accused is required to unearth the whole conspiracy and to establish the involvement of the other persons involved in the conspiracy. In the present facts and circumstances, I am of the considered opinion that it is not a fit case to exercise discretionary powers of anticipatory bail in favour of the accused, said Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala.

The court noted that in the present case, the applicant/accused has been charged with the commission of an offence punishable under Section 420/468/471/120B IPC, 66D IT Act and 89/91 Rights of Persons with Disability Act, 2016. The applicant/accused has cheated the complainant by misrepresenting.

The complainant/UPSC to attain the misrepresentation, has prepared various documents to support her claim. The conspiracy has been hatched in a preplanned manner. The conspiracy was executed by the applicant/accused in many years.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Pune:

Pune court on Monday sent Manorama Khedkar, the mother of IAS probationer Puja Khedkar, to 14 days of judicial custody in the case relating to threatening a farmer.

She allegedly threatened a person with a gun over a land dispute in June last year.

Manorama was arrested on Thursday for allegedly threatening a person with a gun over a land dispute in June last year.

Manorama was arrested from a lodge in Raigad district, where she was hiding, and produced before a judicial magistrate. The prosecution alleged that Manorama, along with her husband and three others, threatened the complainant with a gun and added Section 307, stating that she put a gun to the complainant’s head and was about to pull the trigger.

Earlier, the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has sealed a company named ThermoVerita linked to Manorama Khedkar, mother of IAS Puja Khedkar located in Pune due to an alleged tax default of Rs 2.77 lakh.

This development comes amidst controversy surrounding probationary IAS probationer Puja Khedkar, who had utilized 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,” the Comissioner of PCMC added.

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.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

Manorama Khedkar, trainee IAS officer Puja Khedkar’s mother, has been charged with attempt to murder in connection with a video in which she was seen brandishing a firearm and threatening a group of villagers. She was sent to two days’ police custody after she was produced in court following her arrest this morning. 

Manorama Khedkar, who was on the run for days, was arrested this morning. Police have said she was hiding in a lodge at Mahad in Pune district after police started looking for her in connection with the viral video. The video showed her threatening some villagers, reportedly over a land dispute.

She has been charged under the Arms Act for brandishing her licenced weapon and relevant sections of the new criminal code, Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita. Now, the attempt of murder charge has been added.

“Manorama Khedkar was apprehended from Mahad in Raigad district and she was brought to Pune where, after the completion of formalities, she was placed under arrest,” Pune Rural SP Pankaj Deshmukh has said.

In court, Manorama Khedkar’s lawyer said she has an arms licence. To this, the government lawyer said firearm licences are issued for self-defence. “In this case, she had security with her. There was no chance of an attack by the complainant.”

The video featuring Manorama Khedkar emerged amid the row surrounding her 34-year-old daughter. A senior’s complaint against Puja Khedkar for alleged demands of perks she was not entitled to set off in motion a chain of events that led to shocking revelations. Questions were also raised over how she cleared the tough selection process for UPSC. She was found to have availed of relaxation for physical disability and OBC candidacy, but allegations of her not being eligible for such relaxation surfaced.

Her two-year training has now been put on hold, and her selection into the IAS is being probed by a panel formed by the Centre.

Puja Khedkar’s father has also come under the radar after an investigation into his assets began. The retired Maharashtra government officer, it was found, was suspended twice on corruption charges after businessmen accused him of extortion.

Pune:

Manorama Khedkar, mother of IAS probationer Puja Khedkar, was issued a show cause notice by Pune Police on June 13 over the misuse of a licenced gun.

Pune Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar issued a show cause notice to Puja Khedkar’s mother after Manorama Khedkar, the Sarpanch of Bhalgaon village in Ahmednagar, was seen waving a pistol during a heated argument in a viral video.

A show cause notice issued by Kumar to Pooja Khedkar’s mother, Manorama Khedkar, has been pasted, as no one turned up to receive the notice.

The notice states that Manorama Khedkar has to respond as to why her gun licence should not be cancelled. She has been asked to respond within 10 days.

A case has been registered against her under the Arms Act in the Pune rural police jurisdiction on the complaint of a local farmer who alleged that Manorama Khedkar and others had threatened him.

Following a string of controversies, Puja was recently transferred from Pune to Washim district. The Central Government has set up a committee to investigate these allegations.

Earlier on Saturday, Puja Khedkar refused to comment on the centre setting up a panel to probe her candidature.

Puja Khedkar, who was transferred to Washim from Pune following the allegations, said she was not authorised to speak on this matter.

“I am not authorised to say anything on this matter. I am not permitted to speak on this matter as per government rule,” she said.

The controversy surrounding trainee IAS officer Puja Khedkar from the 2023 batch in Maharashtra, has intensified with fresh allegations against her and her family.

Puja is under scrutiny for allegedly abusing her authority and submitting fraudulent disability and caste certificates to qualify for the civil services exam.

She was accused of various corruption cases, including unauthorised use of a vehicle equipped with a beacon light and demanding privileges such as a separate office, official vehicle, and staff, which are not typically granted to trainee officers.

On Thursday, the central government constituted a single-member committee to verify the candidature claims and other details of Khedkar following a controversy over her alleged misuse of power as a civil servant.

The Ministry of Personnel announced in a statement, emphasising 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.

The IAS trainee was also accused of removing the nameplate of a senior official at the Pune collector’s office when he allowed her to use his antechamber as her office.

Khedkar allegedly submitted fake disability and Other Backward Class (OBC) certificates to clear the civil services exam. Reports claimed that she had also submitted a mental illness certificate.

In April 2022, she was asked to report at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, for verification of her disability certificate, but she did not do so, citing the COVID infection.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Pune:

Pune civic body on Saturday issued a notice to Manorama Khedkar, mother of controversial probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar, directing the removal of “unauthorised structures” adjacent to the boundary wall of their bungalow in seven days, officials said.

Police have also registered an FIR against the IAS probationer’s parents Manorama and Dilip Khedkar beside five others, days after a video showing Manorama allegedly threatening some persons with a gun over a land dispute emerged.

The 34-year-old officer is in the eye of a storm for allegedly misusing the disability and Other Backward Class (OBC) quota to secure a position in the IAS.

On Saturday evening, Pune Municipal Corporation officials tried to hand over the notice to Manorama Khedkar at ‘Om Deep’ bungalow, located on Baner Road in the city, but didn’t get any response after ringing the doorbell. Subsequently, officials stuck the notice on the main door of the bungalow.

“We have received a complaint about the structures installed outside your bungalow causing obstacles to the people. Kindly remove the unauthorised structures adjacent to the boundary wall of the bungalow in the next seven days,” the notice stated.

Pune Rural Police have booked Manorama Khedkar and Dilip Khedkar and five others under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), including section 323 (Dishonest or fraudulent removal or concealment of property), at Paud police station, an official said.

The two-minute video shows Manorama Khedkar, accompanied by her security guards, engaged in a heated argument with some people with a pistol in her hand in Dhadwali village in Pune’s Mulshi tehsil.

An official said the incident was about a land parcel bought by Dilip Khedkar, a retired Maharashtra government officer. Locals had claimed the Khedkars had encroached on the land of neighbouring farmers.

In another blow to Puja Khedkar, Pune City traffic police issued a notice to a private company on Thursday over the unauthorised use of a beacon light on a private car with the “Maharashtra Government” sign the IAS probationer was found using.

“The luxurious car belongs to a private company. An order was issued against Thermo Verita Engineering Pvt Ltd to produce the car at the nearest police station for further inquiry. In case of default, legal action will be initiated by Pune Police,” a senior officer said on Saturday.

The Pune Regional Transport Office (RTO) had issued a notice to a private company, which is the registered owner of the Audi car used by Khedkar.

Notably, the Centre on Thursday constituted a single-member committee for re-examining documents submitted by Puja Khedkar to secure her candidature in the civil services examination and then for selection in service.

A 2023 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, Puja Khedkar is under probation and currently posted in her home cadre Maharashtra. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)