What began as a tantalizing tale of deception on social media about an alleged fake IAS officer named Jyothi Mishra, has likely reached your ears amidst the uproar it has caused. Accusations claim that the daughter of Suresh Mishra, Jyoti 'Mishra', secured a coveted position through a reserved Scheduled Caste seat in the esteemed
Following the controversy involving trainee
, the cascading effect led to multiple allegations of fraudulent caste or disability certificates being used to clinch the IAS title, a narrative into which Jyoti Mishra's saga has virally fit.
Those leveling fraud accusations against Jyoti Mishra shared a video from an awards ceremony, where a young woman can be seen announcing on stage, "Hello, I am Jyoti Mishra." Accompanying this video was a list with the name 'Jyoti', next to which 'SC' was inscribed. At the top of this list read: 'Civil Service Examination 2021– Service Allocation'.
The plot thickened as a statement was released from a Twitter handle supposedly belonging to Jyoti Mishra, clarifying that the 'Jyoti' in the viral list is, in fact, a different individual from Haryana, also an IAS officer. Moreover, this post, which has since been deleted, insisted that Mishra had actually cleared the UPSC exam from the general category. Notably, she was recommended for the Indian Foreign Services and not IAS, being named in a separate list.
Defenders of Jyoti Mishra's reputation sprung up, claiming that the allegations were part of a conspiracy to besmirch a Brahmin girl. An individual by the name of Mahendra Vikram shared another list indicating Jyoti Mishra under 'general' category, asserting that it was sent to him by her father, Suresh Mishra.
Source: aajtak
Further clarification was issued on behalf of Jyoti by Mahendra, claiming that she hails from Raebareli and currently serves as an Indian Foreign Service officer on probation, posted as a Third Secretary in Madrid, Spain.
Certain news websites have corroborated this clarification, publishing reports endorsing her statement.
However, the bewildering truth will astound you. Jyoti Mishra did not clear the UPSC exam at all. In 2022, she deceived her family by claiming that she had been selected as an IAS officer. When the media picked up the story, the lie spread to such an extent that she continued to fabricate more lies in an attempt to conceal the original falsehood. Jyoti Mishra herself disclosed this charade to Aaj Tak.
Let's delve into why and under what circumstances this deception unfolded from the very beginning.
In 2022, even the UP Police fell for the deception
Jyoti Mishra, daughter of sub-inspector
, stationed with the UP Police, found herself at the heart of multiple media tales, heralded for surmounting challenges to clear the UPSC exam. UP Police even extended official congratulations to her via their
, and she was honored at several events for her supposed triumph.
Reports suggest that, at 23 years of age, Suresh Narayan Mishra's daughter from Lucknow's Kakori station secured the 432nd rank in the UPSC exam and became an officer.
To unravel the validity of Jyoti Mishra's claim in the 2021 UPSC results, a thorough examination of the UPSC's official 2021
was conducted on its website. Only two females named 'Jyoti' were present—'Jyoti Yadav', who qualified under the OBC reserved category, and 'Jyoti', who was selected under the SC reservation. No 'Jyoti Mishra' was found.
Even after inspecting the
and the 2021
, the elusive 'Jyoti Mishra' remained absent. Had Jyoti cleared the exam, her name would certainly appear in these listings.
The list with 'general' beside the name Jyoti Mishra, shared by Mahendra Vikram, has been identified as an edited fabrication of UPSC's 2021 legitimate results, manipulating the original 'SC' annotation to 'Mishra (gen)'.
Source: aajtak
What did Jyoti confess?
Jyoti revealed to Aaj Tak that when she expressed her ambition to prepare for the IAS exams to her father, he reluctantly agreed, allocating her savings meant for marriage to fund her coaching.
Following unsuccessful attempts both in 2020 and 2021, her failure was discovered when her younger sister Arti, while scrutinizing the UPSC results, spotted a 'Jyoti'. Mistaking it for her elder sister, she inquired Jyoti, who, faced with repeated failures, misled by claiming, "Yes, that's me." Overjoyed, Arti relayed this false success to their father, and news spread like wildfire, even reaching media outlets. Jyoti felt it was too late to come clean.
How was the lie so elaborately concealed for such a lengthy period?
Jyoti explained that as some of her peers from coaching did pass the UPSC, she was familiar with the entire process of selection, training, and posting. To avoid her deception being detected, she contemplated that mentioning IAS would pinpoint her posting within India, easily verifiable. Hence, she informed her family she had been appointed to the Indian Foreign Services.
Since Jyoti was also learning Spanish, which she believed could land her a job at the embassy in Spain, she told her family her posting was in Spain. To note, her passport had not even materialized. Her elaborate lie was further maintained by rarely visiting home for a year and a half.
Not an IFS officer, so what does Jyoti do?
Jyoti disclosed to Aaj Tak that she is working on an ad-hoc position at a semi-governmental company, which financially sustains her and precludes the need to ask for family support.
What does Jyoti's father have to say?
Jyoti's father, Suresh Mishra, shared that his daughter, a graduate from Delhi University's Motilal Nehru College with a B.Com, had taken coaching at 'Vision IAS' in 2022 after requesting funds for preparation. Believing he had cause to trust his daughter, Suresh never verified her results or requested her roll number.
Jyoti's alleged foundational course completion led to a conveyed selection for the Indian Foreign Service, supposedly poised for training at Mussoorie's 'Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration', which her father accepted without skepticism.
Post claimed completion of her foundational course, Jyoti informed her family of her supposed allocation to Spanish language training requiring relocation to Spain. She did not seek financial support during this period, leading her family to trust her every claim unequivocally.
Suresh stated that Jyoti would call them via WhatsApp during her purported training in Spain, albeit never engaging in video calls or sending pictures or videos of her experiences. When Suresh sporadically asked for photos or videos of her training or Spain visit, Jyoti would evade the request. He admitted to Aaj Tak the feeling of living in the dark, bewildered by this revelation, now not only in shock but also at a loss on facing society.
Clearly, the confusion stemmed from a lie uttered by Jyoti Mishra to her sister in 2022, for which she now harbors regret.
