Delhi High Court Grants Interim Protection From Arrest To Former IAS Puja Khedkar Till August 21, Issues Notice On Anticipatory Bail Plea

The Delhi High Court on Monday granted interim protection from arrest till August 21 to 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.

Justice Subramonium Prasad issued notice on Khedkar's anticipatory bail plea and sought response of Delhi Police and UPSC.

“Issue notice…In the facts of the present case, this court is of the opinion that the petitioner be not arrested till the next date of hearing. List on August 21 in the supplementary list,” the court said.

It however ordered that Khedkar shall cooperate in the investigation.

Khedkar was denied bail by the trial court on August 01.

At the outset, Justice Prasad questioned the Delhi Police as to why Khedkar's custody was required when no one else is involved in the entire chain of events and everything is done by her alone.

“Why do you need her custody? The case is that false representation is given by her in application form…If it is her form only, where is the question of anyone else being involved in the entire episode which will require her custody?,” the court asked.

Senior Advocate Naresh Kaushik appearing for UPSC (complainant) called Khedkar a “mastermind” and said that the way she has got into the system speaks volume about how influential she is.

The court remarked that in the trial court order denying anticipatory bail to Khedkar, there is no discussion except one para as to why her custody was required for her to be denied the relief.

“The problem is sometimes we get too embroiled on arguments on merits that we lose sight of the fact for which the application is filed,” Justice Prasad remarked.

He said that the trial court was “completely boggled” by the offence alleged to have been committed by Khedkar and not on why bail ought to have been granted or not.

On July 31, the UPSC cancelled her 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”.

Last week, a coordinate bench had disposed of Khedkar's plea challenging cancellation of her candidature after UPSC that it will communicate to her the official order of cancellation within two days.

She had impugned the press release issued by the UPSC, contending that the official order has not been served upon her by the Commission.

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. 

Title: Puja Khedkar v. State

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Del) 896