Delhi High Court extends Puja Khedkar's anticipatory bail till Sept 5

The Delhi High Court on Thursday (August 29) extended till September 5 interim protection from arrest granted to former probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar.

Former IAS probationer Puja Khedkar, accused of securing OBC and disability quotas through fraudulent ways to clear the civil service exam, has rejected the charges against her while telling the Delhi High Court that the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has no power to cancel her candidature.

The UPSC last month cancelled the provisional candidature of Khedkar and debarred her from taking all future examinations for allegedly fraudulently availing attempts in the civil services examination beyond eligibility.

Khedkar had sought anticipatory bail in the case.

Only DoPT can take action: Khedkar tells court

“Once selected and appointed as Probationary Officer, UPSC does not have the power to disqualify the candidature,” Khedkar said in response to the case filed against her by the commission.

She added that only the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) which comes under the central government is empowered to take action against her.

‘No change in name, UPSC verified my identity’

In its case, the UPSC has alleged that Khedkar took the test more than the stipulated six times, permitted for candidates from the general category, by changing her name and that of her parents.

The charges have been rubbished by Khedkar in her filing before the court. She said there has been no change in her name or surname from 2012 to 2022, neither did she give any wrong information about herself to the commission.

"UPSC verified my identity through biometric data. The commission did not find my documents fake or incorrect. My educational certificate, Aadhaar card, date of birth, and other personal information were found to be absolutely correct," she told the court.

‘All verifications done by DoPT’

Khedkar also asserted that all the necessary verifications on her identity was done by the DoPT.

“As per DoPT, a medical board constituted by AIIMS conducted my medical examination. The board found my disability to be up to 47 per cent and more than the 40 cent disability required for the PwBD (Person with Benchmark Disability) category,” she said.

UPSC, Delhi police oppose pre-arrest bail plea

The UPSC on August 21 had opposed the anticipatory bail plea filed by Khedkar and had told the court that her custodial interrogation was necessary to gauge the magnitude of the “fraud”.

"The gravity of the fraud committed is unprecedented in nature having been committed against not only a constitutional body – the complainant – whose traditions are untrammelled and unparalleled but also against the public at large, including the citizens of this country who have utmost faith upon the credibility of the UPSC as well as persons who could not be appointed despite being duly eligible and qualified due to illegal means employed by the applicant to seek appointment," the UPSC had said.

Delhi police too had urged the court to dismiss the anticipatory bail plea of Khedkar.

Charges against Khedkar

The UPSC had, in July, initiated a series of actions against Khedkar, including the registration of a forgery case against Khedkar for availing attempts in the civil services exam by faking identity. Subsequently, the Delhi Police registered a case and started its probe.

Khedkar, who was provisionally allotted the Indian Administrative Service (2023 batch, Maharashtra cadre), was accused of misusing power and privileges during her training in Pune.