The Delhi High Court dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of former IAS trainee Puja Khedkar in the UPSC cheating case and observed granting her plea would affect the progress of the investigation in the case.
Hearing Khedkar’s plea on Monday, Delhi High Court judge Justice Chandra Dhari Singh denied anticipatory bail to the former IAS trainee observing prima facie, that there is a strong case against her. The Court observed that prima facie, Khedkar was “not a fit candidate” to avail benefits offered by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for disadvantaged groups. The High Court also removed interim protection granted to her from arrest.
“Prima facie it is established that petitioner’s conduct was to dupe UPSC,” the Court observed. The High Court noted that UPSC examinations were one of the prestigious in the world and Khedkar’s matter was a “classic case of fraud”.
The bench observed that steps taken by the IAS trainee were part of a larger conspiracy to “manipulate the system” and Khedkar committed fraud not only with the UPSC, but also with “society at large”, Live Law reported.
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The former Maharashtra cadre IAS officer landed in soup after she demanded facilities beyond her grade while being posted in Pune. The UPSC found she had changed her name and forged documents like disability certificate and caste certificate to avail exam attempts beyond permissible limits.
Cancelling Khedkar’s candidature in July, UPSC noted she fraudulently availed attempts beyond the permissible limit under the examination rules by “faking her identity by way of changing her name, her father’s and mother’s name, her photograph/ signature, her email ID, mobile number and address.” The Commission also debarred her from taking future examinations.
