Delhi court turns down anticipatory bail plea of Puja Khedkar

New Delhi: A court here on Thursday turned down the anticipatory bail plea of former 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 Examinations (CSE) by faking her identity.

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

Further, the court asked the investigating agency to find out if anyone from inside the UPSC had helped Khedkar.

On Wednesday, the UPSC cancelled Khedkar’s provisional candidature for CSE-2022, and permanently debarred her from all future exams/selections.

The UPSC 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 UPSC, Central government, Maharashtra government, and the police are conducting separate probes against Puja Khedkar, while the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie recently removed her from field training as a trainee IAS officer in Pune and Washim districts.