Delhi Court To Hear Tomorrow Anticipatory Bail Plea Of IAS Trainee Puja Khedkar Booked For False UPSC Application

A Delhi Court will hear tomorrow the anticipatory bail plea moved by probationer Puja Khedkar accused of “misrepresenting and falsifying facts" in her application for Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Services Examination, 2022.

Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala of Patiala House Courts adjourned the matter today after the APP sought adjournment on the ground that the State has appointed SPP Atul Srivastava to argue the case.

“An adjournment is sought. In view of the submission made by the State, put up for appearance of SPP for the State and arguments on bail application on July 31 at 10 AM,” the court said.

Advocate Bina Madhavan appearing for Khedkar informed court that with each passing day, the IAS officer is losing her opportunity to respond to the show cause notice issued by UPSC.

Senior Advocate Naresh Kaushik appearing for UPSC (complainant) called the argument “factually incorrect” and prayed that the bail plea be argued tomorrow in presence of SPP.

UPSC was also represented by Advocates Vardhman Kaushik, Nishant Gautam, Mayank Sharma, Anand Singh and⁠ Vinay Kaushik.

Khedkar joined the Pune Collectorate as part of her probationary training in June. The allegation against her is that she “misused” quotas under Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Persons With Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) to clear the CSE.

An FIR was registered against Khedkar by UPSC in the matter. A show cause notice was also issued to her on cancellation of her selection. She has also been barred from future examinations.

As per a public statement given by UPSC, a detailed and thorough investigation into the “misdemeanour” of Khedkar, revealed that she “fraudulently availed attempts beyond the permissible limit” under the Examination Rules by “faking her identity” by changing her name.

The statement also said that Khedkar changed the names of her father and mother as well as her photograph, signature, email address, mobile number and address.