UPSC CSE 2025: Third fake rank claim surfaces; AIR 440 belongs to Karnataka candidate

Ranjeet Yadav, one candidate from Bihar’s Sheikhpura district had earlier claimed the rank.

Another controversy has surfaced linked to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2025 final results, with a man from Bihar accused of falsely claiming he had secured All India Rank (AIR) 440.

The incident came to light from the Sheikhpura district in Bihar, where Ranjeet Yadav reportedly claimed that he had cleared the prestigious civil services examination. This quickly led to celebrations and public felicitations, until discrepancies emerged regarding the rank.

After thorough document verification, it was found out that he did not secure AIR 440 in the exam. Instead, the rank was secured by a candidate named Ranjith Kumar R from Karnataka’s Chikkaballapur district.

AIR 440 actually belongs to Ranjith Kumar R from Karnataka

This is the third such impersonation and false rank claim that has surfaced since the final UPSC CSE results came out last week on March 6.

What happened so far?

Soon after news of his 'success' circulated, former MLA Vijay Samrat visited Yadav’s residence and felicitated him with gifts, according to reports. Yadav was also reportedly invited to the local police station, where he was congratulated and offered sweets.

However, after the discrepancies in the rank and roll numbers surfaced, he was called for document verification by the district authorities. According to reports, after receiving the police call, Yadav allegedly switched off his phone and left the village.

Since the incident went viral, videos of Yadav speaking about his achievement have also started circulating on social media platforms.

Previous cases

This year, multiple cases of false rank claim have come forward so far. First was involving two candidates named Akanksha Singh claiming AIR 301 in the UPSC CSE 2025 results. Following the confusion, the UPSC clarified that the rank belongs to Akanksha Singh from Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh.

Uttar Pradesh, who had earlier claimed to have secured All India Rank (AIR) 113, acknowledged that the claim was a mistake after a district-level inquiry found that she had not qualified the UPSC Main examination.

The recurring incidents of fake rank claims have also sparked discussion on what regulations the commission has against impersonation and false public claims.

UPSC rules do contain strong provisions against misconduct during the exam process such as impersonation, forging the documents, or submitting misleading information to the commission. In fact, in the past the commission has issued criminal proceedings against candidates for these practices, among other penalties as per the Civil Services Exam Rules.

However, the rules do not directly regulate public claims of success after the results, often leading to false claim incidents.