Big update on ex-trainee IAS officer Puja Khedkar's anticipatory bail plea, Delhi HC now...

The Delhi High Court has reserved its order on an anticipatory bail plea of sacked IAS probationer Puja Khedkar. She is accused of cheating and wrongly availing of OBC and disability quota benefits in the 2022 civil services examination. Justice Chandra Dhari Singh said the interim protection from arrest granted to her would continue in the meantime. After the counsel for the Delhi police and the complainant 

UPSC opposed the plea for the pre-arrest bail, the court said, "Heard both sides. Judgement reserved." Khedkar is accused of allegedly misrepresenting information in her application for the UPSC Civil Services Examination, 2022, to get reservation benefits. She has denied all the allegations.

During the hearing, Khedkar's counsel argued she was willing to join and cooperate in the investigation and as all the material was documentary in nature, her custody was not required. The Delhi police counsel, however, claimed that Khedkar's custodial interrogation was necessary to unearth the involvement of others in the commission of the offence. He said the electronic evidence, in the form of her devices, were yet to be looked into by the probe agency.

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The police counsel raised concerns over the alleged change in her name for different attempts as well as certain discrepancy in her disability certificate whereas the senior counsel representing the UPSC sought the dismissal of the anticipatory bail plea. Khedkar was granted the interim protection from arrest by the high court August 12, with the reprieve being extended from time to time.

The Delhi police previously argued that any relief to Khedkar would hinder its probe into the "deep-rooted conspiracy" in the case, which had wider implications on public trust and the integrity of the civil services examination. Khedkar's counsel, on the contrary, argued the proceedings against her were an aftermath of a sexual harassment complaint by her against an officer.

The UPSC said Khedkar committed a fraud against the commission and the public, and her custodial interrogation was necessary to unearth the "magnitude of the fraud" that could not have been done without the help of other individuals.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from PTI)