Delhi High Court on Monday denied anticipatory bail to former IAS trainee Puja Khedkar. She has been charged with cheating and unlawfully obtaining privileges under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) and disability quotas to pass the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exams.
A trial court denied Khedkar’s anticipatory bail, which led her to challenge the decision in the Delhi High Court. She was granted interim protection in August. However, after reviewing the evidence and allegations, the High Court found sufficient grounds to deny her appeal.
According to the court, Khedkar seemed to have acted with “a motive to reap the benefits of schemes meant for disadvantaged groups in society.”
According to the investigation, her family has lots of power and owns expensive cars, which might have made it easier to produce fake credentials to influence the quota system.
In a sharply worded ruling, the court said, “The petitioner’s strategies create some questions. Her behaviour is a quintessential illustration of deception threatening society and a constitutional body.
“Steps taken by the petitioner seem to be part of a larger conspiracy to manipulate the system,” the judge added. It stressed that to understand the nature of the alleged fraud fully, custodial interrogation was necessary.
The court emphasised the seriousness of Khedkar’s alleged misconduct, saying that it constituted a grave breach of the values of justice and equality, given that millions of candidates take the UPSC exam every year.
“A strong case has been made against the petitioner, and interrogation is required to unearth the conspiracy,” the High Court said while dismissing her petition.
Khedkar is accused of falsifying information in her application for the UPSC Civil Services Examination, 2022, to receive reservation advantages. The former IAS probationer flatly disputed the accusations.
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