UPSC chairman Manoj Soni resigns five years before term ends, cites ‘personal reasons’

Manoj Soni, the chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), has tendered his resignation from the post, five years before his tenure is supposed to end. In his resignation letter, Soni said that he is stepping down from the post due to “personal reasons”, reported PTI.

Manoj Soni handed over his resignation from the chairman post around a fortnight back, PTI reported citing sources, while the resignation is yet to be accepted by the top brass.

His resignation is “not in any way connected to controversies and allegations surrounding the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) after probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar issue came to the fore,” they said.

Soni took oath as the chairman of the UPSC on on May 16, 2023 and his term was to end on May 15, 2029. He has tendered his resignation five years before the end of his tenure.

Despite taking over as the chairman of the Commission, sources said that was not keen on assuming the post and wanted to be relieved. His request, however was not accepted at the time. Soni has now desired to devote more time to “socio-religious activities”, the official sources said.

Before his appointment as a member of the UPSC, Soni served three terms as the Vice Chancellor of different universities. He was the youngest-ever Vice Chancellor in India when he assumed the VC post in The Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU) of Baroda from April 2005 to April 2008.

Soni’s resignation comes at a time when a criminal case has been lodged against trainee IAS officer Puja Khedkar and her family members by UPSC for allegedly faking her identity to avail more attempts for the public service commission examination.

Khedkar came into spotlight after she was transferred out of Pune before finishing her training for misusing power and privileges as a bureaucrat.

After Khedkar’s case came forward and sparked a controversy, social media users started pointing out instances of use of fake certificates by serving Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) officers, among others, urging the police to take action.

Social media users have shared names, pictures and other details of a few IAS and IPS officers, claiming they used bogus certificates to claim benefits available for those belonging to Other Backward Class (non-creamy layer) and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS).