Supreme Court grants relief to ex-IAS trainee Puja Khedkar, extends interim protection

The Supreme Court on March 18 extended ex-IAS trainee Puja Khedkar’s interim protection from arrest while asking the Delhi Police to complete the probe fast.

Khedkar is accused of forging fake documents to obtain eligibility for the 2022 Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) test.

She is facing criminal charges from the Delhi Police for allegedly cheating and unlawfully obtaining OBC and disability quota benefits in the civil services examination.

A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma questioned Delhi police for not completing the investigation given the accused had said in an affidavit that she was willing to cooperate.

"You must track up this investigation steadfastly," Justice Nagarathna told Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, who was appearing for Delhi Police.

The bench will hear her plea of anticipatory bail on April 15.

During the hearing, ASG Raju told the top court that police need to have a custodial interrogation to investigate the larger scam of fake documents submitted by UPSC candidates.

"We have found that this is a scam which may involve persons who are involved in giving certificates, etc. We want to investigate whether she's is an isolated case or there is a larger number of cases,” Raju said.

The bench, however, denied the need for custody saying the source from where Khedkar allegedly got forged certificates needs to be revealed but custody is not needed.

Meanwhile, Khedkar’s counsel denied the allegations of forgery, stating that she was diagnosed with a low-vision disability only in 2018 and since then she has appeared for UPSC three times.

The counsel also argued that her attempt as a disabled candidate has not been exhausted yet.

"You must have to justify your attempts," said the bench.

In January, the apex court granted her interim protection from arrest and asked her to cooperate in the investigation.

She had also challenged the Delhi High Court order for rejecting her anticipatory bail plea.

The accusations levelled at Khedkar include fraudulently availing reservations meant for Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Persons with Benchmark Disabilities so that she could clear the UPSC exam.

Khedkar's troubles began in June when Pune Collector Suhas Diwase wrote to Maharashtra Chief Secretary Sujata Saunik, flagging the trainee IAS officer's demands for perks such as a car, staff and an office that she was not entitled to during her two-year probation.

It was found that she had 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 ₹ 40 crore and she did not qualify for the OBC non-creamy layer tag.

To make matters worse for her, it also emerged that she had not appeared for a mandatory health check-up at a government facility to confirm her disability exemption.

While dismissing the anticipatory bail plea, the Delhi High Court had made strong observations against Khedkar saying it's a "classic example of fraud, not only with a constitutional body but also with society and the nation as a whole."