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Maharashtra

SC shields ex-IAS trainee officer Puja Khedkar from arrest

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New Delhi, Jan 15: In an interim order passed on Wednesday, the Supreme Court directed that no coercive action be taken against sacked Maharashtra cadre probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar, who allegedly submitted false OBC and PwBD (Persons with Benchmark Disabilities) certificates and fraudulently availed attempts beyond the permissible limits provided for the Civil Services Examination (CSE) by faking her identity.

Issuing notice on Puja Khedkar’s anticipatory bail plea, a bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and S.C. Sharma asked the Delhi Police and the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to file its reply in the matter by February 14.

In the meantime, Justice Nagarathna-led Bench granted protection to Puja Khedkar from arrest.

Earlier, the Delhi High Court had dismissed Khedkar’s pre-arrest bail petition and vacated its earlier order shielding her from arrest.

In its judgment delivered on December 15, 2024, a bench of Justice Chandra Dhari Singh opined that prima facie, a strong case was made out against Khedkar, adding that custodial interrogation of a person accused of an offence of such nature is required to unearth the facts.

Justice Singh-led Bench, on November 28, 2024, reserved its decision on her anticipatory bail plea after hearing both sides. It was then clarified that till the judgment is delivered, the interim relief granted earlier on August 12 shielding Khedkar from arrest will continue.

Before this, a court here had turned down her anticipatory bail plea and asked the investigating agency to find out if anyone from inside the UPSC had helped Khedkar. Widening the scope of the probe, Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala had asked Delhi Police to investigate if other people recommended by the UPSC have availed quota benefits without entitlement.

The Centre, on September 7, 2024, sacked Khedkar from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) with immediate effect, a month after the UPSC cancelled her selection in government service.

Khedkar has been found guilty of faking and wrongly availing OBC and disability quota benefits. After cancelling her selection, the UPSC also barred her for life from taking the entrance exam after finding her guilty of faking her identity to take the exam multiple times.

In a status report submitted to the Delhi High Court, the city Police had contended that former Maharashtra cadre probationary IAS officer Khedkar had submitted two separate disability certificates for her UPSC exam. The disability certificates dated 2018 and 2021 citing ‘multiple disabilities’ were purportedly issued by the Ahmednagar District Civil Hospital for her UPSC attempts made in 2022 and 2023. However, as per Delhi Police’s status report, the hospital authorities had denied that the certificates claiming ‘multiple disabilities’ were issued to her by them.

It was found that Khedkar availed relaxed criteria for OBC candidates and persons with disabilities.

It then came to light that her father, a former Maharashtra government officer, had property to the tune of Rs 40 crore and that she did not qualify for the non-creamy layer OBC quota.

he UPSC had said that its Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) “could not detect her number of attempts primarily because she changed not only her name but also her parents’ names”.

Maharashtra

Kasara mumbra railway accident Media is not interested in general issues: Raj Thackeray

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Mumbai: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray described the Kasara Mumbra train accident as unfortunate and said that travelling by railway is the most difficult thing. In the evening, the platform is so crowded that it is difficult to board the trains. Despite this, passengers travel by railway. There is no planning in the cities. This is the reason why the condition of the railway is poor. Accidents happen to those travelling by railway every day. Cities are only building skyscrapers in the name of development projects, in which there is no parking arrangement. The traffic problem is the same as it is. The traffic problem in Mumbai and Pune police stations is very worrying.

The burden of passengers on the railway has increased. There is no separate arrangement for the people of Mumbai in the railways. The condition of the passengers is bad, but the media has nothing to do with these problems. Instead of running the news of when Raj Thackeray and Uddhav Thackeray will come together, if they had drawn the government’s attention to these problems, a solution would have been found. Cities will not develop with metro and monorail alone. Despite metro and monorail, vehicle registration has not stopped. There is no study of who travels by metro and monorail. The problem of traffic on the roads still persists. In such a situation, there is a need to pay attention to urban problems. I demand the Ministry of Railways to pay attention to this.

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Maharashtra

Hunger strike against installation of cement pillars on Kurla Sheetal Pond

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Mumbai: Local slum dwellers have started a phased hunger strike in an attempt to hide slums due to the beautification of Kurla Sheetal Pond. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Pond is a religious pond and Ganpati and Devi are immersed here. This year, cement pillars have been installed on the banks of the pond to hide the slum dwellers adjacent to the pond, which has angered the people.

Nationalist Congress Party Ajit Pawar Group leader and social activist Ghanshyam Bhapkar had started a hunger strike on this issue, but due to his deteriorating condition, he was taken to the hospital. But now local people have started joining this hunger strike. Now this hunger strike has turned into a phased hunger strike. Ghanshyam Bhapkar, who is on hunger strike, alleges that this work has been done to hide the slums, whereas if any accident happens, it will be difficult for the slum dwellers to escape and this also endangers the safety of the residents. There is opposition to this project, but the BMC administration is adamant and the work is going on, that is why we are also on a hunger strike. When Assistant Municipal Commissioner of Kurla L Ward Dhanji Harlekar was asked about this matter, he did not receive the call. Bhapakar has alleged that the people living in slums are worried about these cement pillars. This work has been done only to hide the slums, which is not acceptable to the public. He said that if there is a fire in Sangdewadi, then this is the only route from where people can be evacuated, but this is also being stopped. Making serious allegations, Bhapakar has called it a conspiracy to close the way to Sheetal Lake for the people living in slums. A campaign has been started to save Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Lake and a hunger strike is also going on in this regard.

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Maharashtra

CSMT-bound train accident: 5 passengers die after falling from train, CM Fadnavis offers condolences, Railways department to conduct inquiry

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Mumbai: 10 passengers in a fast local running from Thane Mumbra Kasara to CSMT were hit by an express train when both the trains were passing. The accident occurred at 9:25 am. About 5 passengers died in this accident. These passengers fell down from the train, out of which one died on the spot. A total of 13 passengers were injured in this accident. In this accident, 2017 batch GRP officer Vicky Mukhildar died in the accident in Mumbra. According to information received from sources, the Paspak Express was traveling with a passenger hanging on the gate, which due to jumping in the air, hit the passengers standing at the gate of the local train and the balance of the passengers of the local train was disturbed, due to which 9 people were seriously injured and five passengers died. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis his condolences over the accident at the local station. He said that this accident is very sad. Our condolences to the families of those who died in this accident. He said that the injured were taken to Shivaji Hospital in Thane and their treatment is ongoing. Devendra Fadnavis said that the Railway Department will investigate how the accident happened.

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