Delhi HC Dismisses Anticipatory Bail Plea of ex-IAS Trainee Officer Puja Khedkar

NEW DELHI:
The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed anticipatory bail plea of sacked Maharashtra cadre probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar, who allegedly submitted false OBC and PwBD (Persons with Benchmark Disabilities) certificates and fraudulently availed attempts beyond the permissible limits provided for the Civil Services Examination (CSE) by faking her identity.

A bench of Justice Chandra Dhari Singh vacated its earlier order shielding her from arrest and in its judgment, opined that prima facie, a strong case was made out against Puja Khedkar.

It added that custodial interrogation of a person accused of an offence of such nature is required to unearth the facts.

Asking Khedkar to cooperate with the investigation, the Delhi HC, in an interim order passed on August 12, granted her protection from arrest.

Justice Singh-led Bench, on November 28, reserved its decision on Puja Khedkar’s anticipatory bail plea after hearing both sides. It was then clarified that till the judgment is delivered, the interim relief granted earlier to Puja Khedkar shielding her from arrest will continue.

Earlier, a court here had turned down her anticipatory bail plea and asked the investigating agency to find out if anyone from inside the UPSC had helped Khedkar.

Widening the scope of the probe, Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala had asked Delhi Police to investigate if other people recommended by the UPSC have availed quota benefits without entitlement.

The Centre, on September 7, sacked Puja Khedkar from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) with immediate effect, a month after the UPSC cancelled her selection in government service. Puja Khedkar has been found guilty of faking and wrongly availing OBC and disability quota benefits.

After cancelling her selection, the UPSC also barred her for life from taking the entrance exam after finding her guilty of faking her identity to take the exam multiple times.

In a status report submitted to the Delhi High Court, Delhi Police had contended that former Maharashtra cadre probationary IAS officer Khedkar had submitted two separate disability certificates for her UPSC exam. The disability certificates dated 2018 and 2021 citing ‘multiple disabilities’ were purportedly issued by the Ahmednagar District Civil Hospital for her UPSC attempts made in 2022 and 2023.

However, as per Delhi Police’s status report, the hospital authorities had denied that the certificates claiming ‘multiple disabilities’ were issued to her by them. It was found that Khedkar availed relaxed criteria for OBC candidates and persons with disabilities.

It then came to light that her father, a former Maharashtra government officer, had property to the tune of Rs 40 crore and that she did not qualify for the non-creamy layer OBC quota.

The UPSC had said that its Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) “could not detect her number of attempts primarily because she changed not only her name but also her parents’ names”.

The Delhi High Court also issued notice to Khedkar on an application filed by the UPSC alleging that she committed perjury by swearing a false affidavit and making a false statement in relation to her anticipatory bail plea.

In its application, the UPSC disputed that it did not collect any biometrics (eyes and fingerprints) during Khedkar’s personality test and she made a “false statement” regarding the collection of her biometrics for obtaining favourable orders.