SC asks discharged IAS officer Puja Khedkar to respond to quota misuse charges

The Supreme Court also asked discharged IAS probationary officer Puja Khedkar to respond to the charges by the Delhi police of her being part of a larger racket

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked discharged IAS probationary officer Puja Khedkar to respond by April 15 to the Delhi police’s charges against her of fraudulently availing quota benefits to appear multiple times in the civil services examination (CSE).

Discharged IAS probationary officer Puja Khedkar. (File Photo)

The court observed that a person who has exhausted attempts as an “abled” candidate cannot be entitled to separate attempts as a disabled candidate and asked her to respond to the charges by the Delhi police of her being part of a larger racket.

The observation came as Khedkar maintained that as a disabled candidate, she still had attempts remaining to avail.

A bench headed by justice BV Nagarathna said, “You cannot have separate attempts for abled and separate attempts for disabled candidates. You have to justify your position.”

The bench, also comprising justice SC Sharma, was hearing the anticipatory bail plea of Khedkar on which notice was issued on January 15 this year along with an order protecting her from arrest or any coercive action by the police.

A 2023 batch IAS officer of the Maharashtra cadre, Khedkar courted controversy for misusing benefits from the Other Backward Class (OBC) and Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) quota to secure a position in civil services and was discharged from service on September 7 last year, days after the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on July 31 announced the cancellation of her candidature.

The Supreme Court bench told the Delhi police to take up the investigation “steadfastedly” and questioned them for not calling Khedkar for interrogation despite her willingness to join the probe.

Additional solicitor general (ASG) SV Raju appearing for the police told the bench that based on investigation conducted so far, there are other persons involved who helped Khedkar avail multiple attempts by forging medical certificates. “There is a bigger scam, and the truth can come out only during custodial interrogation,” Raju said.

The bench said, “She is not a kingpin issuing certificates or aiding people to get multiple attempts to appear in CSE. Ultimately, if truth is to come out, what is the difference in having custodial interrogation and not regular interrogation. What is the scam in this? Is there a pattern in relation to the certificates she has procured.” Giving an indication to the police that the probe cannot be allowed to linger in, the bench said, “You must take up the investigation steadfastedly.”

On Monday, the Delhi police filed an affidavit in the top court giving reasons for opposing the anticipatory bail plea of Khedkar. “It appears from the investigation conducted till now that there are other individuals also involved in the fraud. The petitioner could coordinate with them to create a consistent narrative, cover up their tracks, or manipulate remaining evidence etc. This would significantly hinder the investigating officer’s ability to uncover the complete scope of the fraud,” it said.

It further added that the custodial interrogation is essential to unearth the whole conspiracy as there is “certainly a deep-rooted conspiracy” required to be unearthed. “It is a matter of investigation to find some more people/persons, who are suspected to be involved in such a big fraud, where manipulation of details has been done with a premier and reputed central government institution like UPSC,” the police said.

ASG said, “This is a case attracting IPC section 467 (forgery of a valuable document) punishable with life imprisonment,” as he showed how two disability certificates were issued by the same hospital in Maharashtra on January 18, 2021 with one indicating 40% lower vision disability and the other showing her to have hearing impairment in right eye along with locomotor disability, besides low vision.

Since 2012, Khedkar appeared in CSE as a backward class candidate, but in 2018 she became entitled for appearing under disability category on account of 40% low vision. She had exhausted her nine permissible attempts in 2020, but she continued to appear in later years under a changed name, the police alleged. In 2022, she got selected under the disability quota.

As the court questioned Khedkar if she had a disability certificate in her school days, her lawyer Bina Madhavan said, “This disability happened over a period of time.” She refuted the charges of the police by adding that merely having a disability certificate is not enough as she had to appear before a medical board comprising reputed doctors from AIIMS to qualify under the disability quota. She further said, “As disabled candidate, I have attempted CSE thrice. I am yet to exhaust all my attempts as disabled.”

Khedkar’s candidature was cancelled by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on July 31 last year on account of suppression of information.

The Delhi high court in December last year refused to grant pre-arrest bail and dismissed her petition with scathing observations pointing to a larger conspiracy behind her attempt to dupe the UPSC. Khedkar argued that she is a single woman whose career is at stake as currently she has lost her job.

In her petition, Khedkar said that the high court failed to appreciate that the charges against her pertaining mainly to cheating and fraud were based on documentary evidence already in possession of the Delhi police probing the matter. Further she said that there was no requirement for her custodial interrogation as she had given an undertaking to cooperate with the probe. Earlier, a city court too had refused to grant her anticipatory bail.