Puja Khedkar can't be arrested till Aug 21, Delhi HC grants interim protection in 'fake identity' case

“Puja Khedkar be not arrested till the next date of hearing,” the Delhi High Court said on Monday, granting interim relief protection from arrest till August 21 to the former probationer controversial IAS officer, who is accused of “misrepresenting and falsifying facts" in her application for UPSC Civil Services Examination, 2022.

Issuing notice to the Delhi Police and the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Khedkar’s anticipatory bail plea, Justice Subramonium Prasad asked them to file their responses by the next date of hearing on August 21 as to why her custody is required to unearth the conspiracy.  

“As of now, it does not seem to me that her immediate custody is required,” Justice Prasad said.  

“Issue notice… In the facts of the present case, this court is of the opinion that the petitioner be not arrested till the next date of hearing. List on August 21 in the supplementary list,” the court further said.

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Relief for Puja Khedkar

The Delhi High Court’s order comes as a big relief for Khedkar who was denied bail by the trial court on August 1. However, the HC has ordered her to cooperate fully in the investigation.

Khedkar, a 2023-batch IAS officer, was accused of fraudulently availing attempts beyond the permissible limit by faking her identity, including changing her name, her parent’s names, her photograph, signature, email ID, mobile number, as well as her address.

The UPSC had on July 31 cancelled Khedkar’s candidature and debarred her from all future exams and selection processes.

Delhi HC grants interim protection from arrest to Puja Khedkar

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During the hearing of the plea on Monday, Justice Prasad questioned the Delhi Police as to why custody of Khedkar was needed when no one else is involved in the entire chain of events and everything is done by her alone.

“Why do you need her custody? The case is that false representation is given by her in application form…If it is her form only, where is the question of anyone else being involved in the entire episode which will require her custody?,” the High Court asked.

Appearing for the UPSC, senior advocate Naresh Kaushik called Khedkar a “mastermind” and said the way she has got into the system speaks volume about how influential she is.

VIDEO | “The bail application was registered for hearing (today). The judge raised their query as to on what basis, custodial interrogation (of Puja Khedkar) is required. The Judge was of the view that primarily trial court has gone into the aspect of prima facie guilt and… pic.twitter.com/sVStRr0GHd

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 12, 2024

Trial court was ‘boggled’ by allegations against Puja Khedkar

The Delhi High Court also remarked that the trial court while denying relief from arrest to Khedkar got boggled from the offence allegedly committed by her and did not properly deal with her plea for bail.

“The trial court was boggled from the offence which was committed but not as to why bail should or should not be granted,” Justice Prasad said.  

“The judgement of the trial court goes on the offence committed and holds that the offence has been committed but there is hardly any discussion as to why bail sought cannot be granted. Though I am not sitting in appeal, but except from one paragraph about the PP [public prosecutor] submission that there are others involved and conspiracy is to be unearthed, there is no other discussion on bail,” Justice Prasad said.  

He further said that in big matters, courts get embroiled in the allegations and, at times, lose sight of the relief being sought before it.  

“What happens in these big matters is we get so much embroiled in the arguments that we lose sight of the relief sought… we lose sight of the purpose for which bail was filed,” Justice Prasad said.

Khedkar had moved the Delhi High Court challenging Patiala House Court’s decision to deny her anticipatory bail.

The Patiala House Court in Delhi found the allegations against her of falsifying identity for extra attempts in the civil services examination serious and emphasised on the need of thorough investigation.

The trial court judge said custodial interrogation of Khedkar was required to unearth the whole conspiracy and to establish the involvement of other persons involved in the conspiracy.

In June this year, Khedkar joined the Pune Collectorate as part of her probationary training. She has been accused of “misusing” quotas under Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Persons With Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) to clear the CSE.