Delhi HC extends interim protection from arrest to disqualified IAS officer Puja Khedkar

New Delhi, Sep 26 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Thursday extended its earlier order granting interim protection from arrest to now-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 decided to fix the hearing on October 4 after parties sought more time to file detailed submissions.

In the meantime, Justice Singh-led Bench ordered an extension of the benefit of interim relief granted earlier to Puja Khedkar shielding her from arrest.

In a brief hearing, the counsel representing the Delhi Police submitted that the probe revealed “a larger conspiracy”, hinting involvement of other people in the matter.

Last week, the Delhi High Court issued notice to Khedkar on an application filed by the Union Public Service Commission (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.

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

Earlier, a court here 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 Khedkar from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) with immediate effect, a month after the UPSC cancelled her selection in government service.

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".

Last month, the Centre allowed the UPSC to utilise Aadhaar-based authentication to verify candidates' identities voluntarily, both at the time of registration and during several stages of examinations and recruitment.