Delhi High Court Reserves Judgment On Former IAS Puja Khedkar's Anticipatory Bail Plea

The Delhi High Court on Thursday (November 28) reserved judgment on the anticipatory bail plea filed by former probationer IAS officer Puja Khedkar who is accused of “misrepresenting and falsifying facts" in her application for Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Services Examination, 2022.

“Heard both sides. Judgment reserved,” Justice Chandra Dhari Singh said. The Court said that the interim protection from arrest granted to Khedkar in August will continue in the meantime.

The UPSC and the Delhi Police have opposed Khedkar's anticipatory bail plea. She was earlier denied anticipatory bail by the trial court on August 1.

It is Khedkar's case that she will cooperate in the probe. She has claimed that her custody is not required as all the evidence is documentary in nature.

On the other hand, the Delhi Police has said that Khedkar's custodial interrogation is necessary to unearth the involvement of other individuals in the matter.

The UPSC, complainant in the case, has called Khedkar a “mastermind”. It has claimed that the way she has got into the system speaks volumes about how influential she is.

On July 31, the UPSC cancelled Khedkar's candidature and debarred her permanently from all the future examinations and selections of the Commission. As per UPSC, she was found “guilty of acting in contravention of the provisions of the Civil Services Examination-2022 Rules”.

While denying anticipatory bail to her, the trial court had directed the investigating agency to widen its scope of investigation in the case and to conduct its probe in all fairness.

The trial court had further directed the probe agency to find out the candidates recommended in the past who have availed the benefits beyond permissible limits and those who obtained benefits under OBC category or under persons with benchmark disabilities without being entitled of the same.

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.

Case Title: Puja Khedkar v. State