Delhi High Court Seeks Puja Khedkar's Response On UPSC's Plea Alleging Perjury

The Delhi High Court today issued notice to former probationer IAS officer Puja Khedkar on an application filed by the Union Public Services Commission, seeking to initiate perjury proceedings against her for allegedly giving false statement and affidavit in the court.

Khedkar is accused of “misrepresenting and falsifying facts" in her UPSC application. On July 31, the UPSC cancelled her candidature and debarred her permanently from all the future examinations and selections of the Commission.

Khedkar had claimed before the Court that she was not served with the official order by UPSC and had argued that she could not have been informed about cancellation of her candidature via press release after she was appointed as an IAS.

In its application, UPSC claims that the July 31 communication was sent to Khedkar on her registered email ID the same day. However, she made a false statement in the Court that she was not served.

Justice Jyoti Singh, presiding over the case, today asked Khedkar's counsel how the former IAS had filed an affidavit on July 28, assailing her termination on a subsequent date.

The counsel submitted that the affidavit was based on the show cause notice issued to Khedkar.

Unimpressed, the judge pointed towards a specific prayer in Khedkar's plea, which referred to the Press Release dated 31 July.

"So you're referring to a press release dated 31 July on an application filed, signed and attested on 28 July? File a reply," Justice Singh told the counsel.

Court has granted Khedkar three weeks time to file her reply and listed the matter for further hearing on November 26.

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. UPSC & Ors.