The Delhi High Court on Thursday (August 29, 2024) extended the interim protection from arrest granted to former IAS probationer Puja Khedkar, who has been accused of fraudulently clearing Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam 2022, till September 5.
The court deferred hearing on the anticipatory bail plea by Ms. Khedkar till September 5 and asked the police to submit a fresh status report.
Both the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), which conducts the Civil Services examinations, and the Delhi Police have sought dismissal of her plea for pre-arrest bail.
Meanwhile, Ms. Khedkar, who allegedly cheated and wrongly availed OBC and disability quota benefits to clear the prestigious exam, has denied the allegations levelled against her and asserted that she has neither misrepresented nor cheated in the process of successfully clearing the Civil Services Examination-2022.
“(Her) selection (was) on the basis of merit in the category of Persons with Benchmark Disability (PwBD) and has attempted fifth time under the category whereas the available attempts are nine in the said category. The attempts given prior to this from 2012 to 2017 was not under this category and cannot be mixed up to disentitle applicant as a disabled candidate,” her rejoinder said.
She argued that since all material is with the UPSC and no document is required from her, she is entitled to pre-arrest bail.
The Delhi Police also sought dismissal of the pre-arrest bail plea on the ground that any relief to her would hinder its probe into the “deep rooted conspiracy” and that the case has wider implications on public trust as well as the integrity of the Civil Services examination.
“In its reply filed in court, UPSC said Ms. Khedkar’s custodial interrogation was necessary to unearth the magnitude of the “fraud” that could not have been done without the help of other individuals. Therefore, her pre-arrest bail plea should be dismissed,” it said.
The Delhi Police, in its status report, asserted that investigation has revealed that she was not entitled to benefits as an “OBC+Non-Creamy Layer” candidate but she hatched a conspiracy with other persons to get that benefit by showing that her parents are divorced.
“The circumstances, however, suggest that Ms. Khedkar’s parents were living together, and that she made a false declaration with respect to her previous number of attempts while writing the Civil Services Examination (CSE)-2021 under a changed name,” the agency said.
“She had already exhausted all the permissible attempts available to a PwBD (Persons with Benchmark Disabilities)+OBC candidate, i.e. nine attempts by CSE-2020 itself. Therefore, as per CSE Rules, she was not eligible to appear further for CSE-2021 and subsequent CSEs,” police said in its status report..
“However, despite exhausting all the permissible attempts she appeared in CSE-2021, CSE- 2022 and CSP-2023 by intentionally changing her name and making incorrect or false statements regarding the number of attempts already availed and suppressing material information which she was duty bound to furnish true and correct,” the report stated.
The police report said while Ms. Khedkar claimed no connection with her father and showed her mother’s income as being below the threshold to get the benefit of “OBC+Non-Creamy Layer” candidate, her family owns 12 vehicles, including a Mercedes car, BMW car and a Thar SUV.
It stated the family owns “23 pieces of immovable properties valued crores of Rupees” in different locations in Maharashtra. On July 31, UPSC cancelled Ms. Khedkar’s candidature.
Published - August 29, 2024 12:46 pm IST
