Supreme Court Grants Interim Protection To Ex-IAS Officer Puja Khedkar, Issues Notice On Anticipatory Bail Plea

The Supreme Court today issued notice on the anticipatory bail plea of ex-IAS probationary officer Puja Khedkar, who is accused of “misrepresenting and falsifying facts" in her application for Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Services Examination, 2022. Further, it was directed that no coercive steps be taken against her in the criminal case registered pursuant to the allegations till the next date (ie February 14).A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma passed the order, stating, "issue notice on respondent/state as well as respondent-UPSC...returnable on 14.02.2025. Till the next date of hearing, no coercive steps shall be taken as against the petitioner herein vis-a-vis FIR No...".At the outset of the hearing, Justice Nagarathna noted that nothing coercive has taken place in the past few months to give rise to an apprehension of arrest. However, Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra (for Khedkar) pointed out that the Delhi High Court has given very strong findings in the impugned order (whereby anticipatory bail was denied), indicting Khedkar completely. As such, there is apprehension of arrest.In this backdrop, the Supreme Court passed its order, calling for the response of the Delhi Police and the UPSC.Briefly put, the allegation against Khedkar is that she “misused” quotas under Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Persons With Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) to clear the CSE. As per a public statement given by UPSC, a detailed and thorough investigation into the “misdemeanor” of Khedkar, revealed that she “fraudulently availed attempts beyond the permissible limit” under the Examination Rules by “faking her identity” by changing her name. The statement also said that Khedkar changed the names of her father and mother as well as her photograph, signature, email address, mobile number and address.On July 31, 2024, UPSC cancelled Khedkar's candidature and debarred her permanently from all the future examinations and selections of the Commission. As per UPSC, she was found “guilty of acting in contravention of the provisions of the Civil Services Examination-2022 Rules”. Upon receipt of complaints, an FIR was also registered against Khedkar.In August, 2024, the Delhi High Court granted interim protection from arrest to Khedkar, but the same was vacated vide the order impugned in the present proceedings and the ex-probationary IAS officer's anticipatory bail plea rejected. The Court observed that prima facie, Khedkar was not a fit candidate to avail the benefits meant for disadvantaged groups and that she had been availing the benefit by forging documents.The Court added that the steps taken by Khedkar were a part of a large conspiracy to manipulate the system and that investigation would be affected if she was granted anticipatory bail.Noting further that UPSC is one of the most prestigious examinations in the world, the Court said that it was a classic case where fraud was committed by Khedkar not only with the constitutional body but also society at large."Apart from owning luxury cars and various properties, the family of the petitioner i.e., the father and mother have held high positions in the executive. Therefore, there is a high possibility that the family members have colluded with the unknown powerful persons in order to get the requisite certificates produced by the petitioner," the Court stated.Case Title: PUJA MANORAMA DILIP KHEDKAR Versus STATE OF NCT OF DELHI AND ANR., SLP(Crl) No. 357/2025 Click Here To Read/Download Order

Supreme Court Grants Interim Protection To Ex-IAS Officer Puja Khedkar, Issues Notice On Anticipatory Bail Plea

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Supreme Court Grants Interim Protection To Ex-IAS Officer Puja Khedkar, Issues Notice On Anticipatory Bail Plea

Debby Jain

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