Retired Maharashtra government official Diliprao Khedkar, who is the father of controversial IAS trainee officer Puja Khedkar, was twice suspended due to allegations of corruption.
His assets were reportedly out of proportion to his salary, and the Pune Anti-Corruption Bureau has since opened an investigation into this matter. It has been learned that Dilip Khedkar was suspended in both 2018 and 2020. He was also forced to leave his position as the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board’s (MPCB) director in 2023.
Dilip Khedkar was accused by at least 300 small company owners of causing “unnecessary trouble” and extortion in 2015. On 6th October 2015, the state Minister for Industries, Mining, Environment, and Public Works Department forwarded these concerns to the Chief Minister after which formal complaints were lodged.
The local sawmill and timber merchants association submitted a police complaint to the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Anti-Corruption Branch, Kolhapur, against him in the year 2018, while he was serving as Kolhapur’s regional officer. They said hat he had sought bribes ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 in exchange for restoring their power and water supply.
Sona Alloys Pvt. Ltd. filed a harassment allegation against Khedkar in March 2019 after the company refused to give a bribe of Rs 50,000. During the same period, he allegedly demanded Rs 20 lakh from Pune-based Suprabha Polymer and Packaging. He alegedly agreed to Rs 13 lakh after headquarters ordered a preliminary inquiry into the complaint. Dilip Khedkar also once went missing for six or seven months without permission after his transfer from Kolhapur to the Maitri Cell of the Maharashtra State Small Scale Industries Development Corporation, Mumbai, in May 2018.
Dilip Khedkar was the subject of departmental probes and two suspensions as a result of these incidents. According to a 2020 order, Dilip Khedkar was suspended under the Maharashtra Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1983, Rule 3(1) of the Maharashtra Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1979, and sub-section 1(a) of Rule No. 4 of the Maharashtra Civil Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1979. The order stated that an inquiry had been started and listed several complaints made against him.
Dilip Khedkar reported holdings of almost Rs 40 crore in his affidavit for the 2024 Lok Sabha election, which included ownership of several properties in Ahmednagar, Pune, Mumbai, and Pune Rural. The assets of the Khedkar family have been scrutinized in the wake of the probe into Puja Khedkar (aged 34) whose appointment as an IAS officer has drawn criticism. Dilip Khedkar’s companies, vehicles, and land have been flagged following an Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) complaint. The former official was questioned for three days after which he and his wife Manorama Khedkar absconded.
Meanwhile, Manorama Khedkar was arrested by the Pune rural police on July 18th in relation to a complaint that she had threatened farmers with a gun. She was taken into custody from the Mahad region in the Raigad district, according to police, for possessing an illegal firearm and was transported to Pune for further inquiry. Manoj Yadav, Inspector, Paud police station informed, “Manorama Khedkar has been detained. She is being taken to the Paud police station and then will be arrested as per the legal procedure. She would then be produced before the court in the afternoon.” She was hiding in a lodge near the Raigad Fort in Raigad district.
A video of Manorama Khedkar pointing a gun at a farmer went viral on social media prompting the filing of an FIR. She and a few bouncers are shown in the video carrying a pistol as they engage in a furious altercation with a farmer. She brandished the gun menacingly and then hastily put it away when she saw that a camera was filming the exchange.
The incident apparently transpired on 5th June 2023 at Dhadawali village in the Pune tehsil of Mulshi. The Khedkar couple was not present when a police squad went to their home in Baner, after which the authorities started searching for them. Police have taken statements from witnesses in the case and conducted a panchnama of the location in Dhadawali village where the incident unfolded.
Manorama Khedkar received a show-cause notice from Pune City Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar on 13th July asking her to explain the reason why her firearms license should not be revoked. He mentioned that she is suspected of violating the gun license laws and regulations and it is not implausible that her careless actions could endanger the lives of regular citizens, in the notice. Therefore, it pointed out, that she is not a suitable individual to have a firearms license. She was given a 10-day ultimatum by the Pune police commissioner to reply to the show cause notice or face having her firearms license withdrawn.
Puja Khedkar (34), a member of the 2023 batch who scored an all-India rank (AIR) of 841 in the UPSC test, has been accused of fabricating documents during her UPSC exam and abusing her position of authority. She is under investigation for her actions while serving as the district collector for Pune and for abusing the quotas for persons with benchmark disabilities (PwBD) and other backward classes (OBC) to succeed in the national examination. She possesses five pieces of land and two apartments in various locations in Maharashtra, with an estimated value of Rs 22 crore, leading to more scrutiny over the family’s financial transactions.
