Delhi court rejects controversial IAS trainee Puja Khedkar's anticipatory bail plea

Puja Khedkar row: The court said that the investigating agency, the Delhi Police, needs to widen the scope of its investigation.

Updated on: Aug 1, 2024, 17:54:51 IST

By HT News Desk

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Delhi's Patiala House court on Thursday dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of Puja Khedkar, a trainee IAS officer accused of using fraudulent means to clear the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination.

UPSC on Wednesday cancelled the provisional candidature of controversial probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar (File Photo)

She had moved the court seeking pre-arrest bail in a case registered against her for allegedly faking her identity to get more attempts in the UPSC examination.

The court said that the investigating agency, the Delhi Police, needs to widen the scope of its investigation.

It also directed the police to find out whether some insider of the UPSC had helped her attain her goal.

On Wednesday, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) cancelled the provisional candidature of the controversial trainee IAS officer. The body also debarred her from appearing for any exam conducted by the UPSC.

"The UPSC has examined the available records carefully and found her guilty of acting in contravention of the provisions of the CSE-2022 Rules. Her provisional candidature for the CSE-2022 has been cancelled and she has also been debarred permanently from all the future Examinations/Selections of the UPSC," the body had said.

Puja Khedkar had secured an all-India rank of 821 in the UPSC exams.

"In the backdrop of the case of Ms Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar, the UPSC has thoroughly examined the available data of more than 15,000 finally recommended candidates of the CSEs from the year 2009 to 2023 i.e. for 15 years concerning the number of attempts availed by them. After this detailed exercise, barring the case of Ms Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar, no other candidate has been found to have availed more attempts than permitted under the CSE Rules. In the lone case of Ms Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar, the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of the UPSC could not detect her number of attempts primarily because she changed not only her name but also her parents’ name. The UPSC is in the process of further strengthening the SOP to ensure that such a case does not recur in the future,” UPSC added.

The Delhi police had registered an FIR against her over a complaint filed by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

The UPSC's action came two weeks after Puja Khedkar was relieved from the District Training Programme of the government of Maharashtra.

With inputs from PTI, ANI

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