The Delhi High Court on Monday granted former trainee IAS officer Puja Khedkar protection from arrest until August 21, ordering the Delhi Police not to arrest her until the next hearing. Khedkar is charged with misleading and manipulating information in her application to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
Court questions Delhi Police’s request for immediate custody
Justice Subramonium Prasad gave the ruling while hearing Puja Khedkar’s request for anticipatory bail. He questioned the Delhi Police’s demand for Khedkar’s immediate custody, pointing out that she seemed to have acted alone in the alleged crimes.
“As of now it doesn’t seem to me at the moment that her immediate custody is needed,” Justice Prasad said.
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Court orders Khedkar to cooperate with the investigation
Khedkar was ordered by the court to assist with the current investigation. In addition to adding UPSC as a party to the case, it sent notifications to Delhi Police and the commission asking for their comments on her request for temporary relief.
Khedkar, a 2023-batch IAS officer, was accused of exceeding the authorized number of attempts by falsifying her identity, which included changing her name, father’s and mother’s names, photograph, signature, email ID, mobile number, and address.
The UPSC filed a police case against her before revoking her nomination on July 31 and prohibiting her from taking any future UPSC exams.
On August 1, a Delhi court denied Khedkar anticipatory bail, citing the need for custodial interrogation to unearth the complete conspiracy and the involvement of others.
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The sessions court found that Khedkar’s activities not only cheated and defrauded the UPSC, but also denied eligible applicants their legitimate opportunities.
The Delhi Police had launched an inquiry, gathering documents and evidence, and were likely to notify Khedkar to join the investigation.
Khedkar’s legal team, led by counsel Bina Madhavan, had contended that she should be given the opportunity to reply to the claims and that her failure to disclose the number of attempts was a matter of investigation.
