The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Delhi police to finish its probe against former IAS trainee Puja Khedkar in the UPSC cheating case without delay. Extending interim protection granted to Khedkar from arrest, the apex court orally observed custodial interrogation of Khedkar wasn’t necessary to finish the probe against her.
Hearing the anticipatory bail plea of Khedkar, a bench comprising Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma directed the Delhi police to finish the probe against the former IAS officer without much delay. The bench asked police why it wasn’t completing the investigation when Khedkar herself had expressed willingness to cooperate with the probe.
Delhi police argued custodial interrogation was needed to probe the “larger scam” related to the issuance of fake certificates submitted by Khedkar to UPSC. Police sought Khedkar’s custody to nab the middlemen involved. However, the bench observed her custody not necessary to probe the source of fake certificates submitted by the former IAS trainee.
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Delhi police also argued Khedkar availed more attempts beyond her permitted nine attempts to write the examination by submitting fake documents. Though Khedkar’s counsel argued that she appeared for the examination only thrice after she was diagnosed with low-vision disability in 2018, the bench turned down the argument. The bench said, “It cannot be the case that you can avail separate attempts as an able candidate and as a disabled candidate,” PTI reported. The apex court will next hear the matter on April 15.
Khedkar, a former IAS officer with Maharashtra cadre, is accused of misrepresenting information in her application for the UPSC civil services examination for availing reservation benefits. UPSC has debarred her from future examinations.
