Delhi court denies anticipatory bail to former trainee IAS Puja Khedkar; widens scope of probe

A Delhi court on Thursday denied bail to former trainee Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Puja Khedkar accused of fraudulently clearing the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination. .Khedkar is accused of fraudulently availing the reservation of Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Persons with Benchmark Disabilities to clear the UPSC exam.Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Devender Kumar Jangala today not only denied anticipatory bail to Khedkar but also directed the Delhi Police to widen the scope of the probe and asked it to investigate whether any other persons would have availed benefits of quotas under OBC and Persons with Disabilities (PwD) without entitlement."The investigation agency needs to widen the scope of the investigation. The agency is directed is directed to find out the candidates recommended [by the UPSC] in recent past who have availed attempts beyond permissible limits, who have obtained OBC (non-creamy layer) benefit despite not being entitled and those who obtained benefits of Persons With Benchmark Disabilities despite not being entitled," the Court ordered.The agency [Delhi Police] should also find out if UPSC officials (had) helped her [Khedkar], the Court added..The Delhi Police lodged the case against Khedkar on a complaint filed by the UPSC.According to an investigation done by the UPSC, Khedkar had also "fraudulently availed attempts beyond the permissible limit under the Examination Rules by faking her identity by way of changing her name, her father's & mother's name, her photograph/ signature, her email ID, mobile number and address."Police argued that Khedkar will not cooperate in the investigation if she is granted anticipatory bail..On Wednesday, Khedkar had argued before the Court that the case against her was lodged at the behest of the Pune Collector against whom she had made a sexual harassment complaint.She said that she should be given an opportunity to defend herself under the service rules.However, both the Delhi Police and UPSC argued that custodial interrogation was necessary in the case as Khedkar had duped the system and society.She alleged that media has been on a witch hunt against her. .Meanwhile, the UPSC cancelled Khedkar's selection on Wednesday and permanently debarred her from all future exams and selections. The UPSC said that Khedkar was found “guilty of violating CSE-2022 Rules”..Advocate Bina Madhavan appeared for Puja Khedkar. Delhi Police was represented by Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava. Senior Advocate Naresh Kaushik appeared for UPSC..Read detailed arguments in the case here.