Khedkar’s custodial interrogation must to unearth fraud

New Delhi: The UPSC on Wednesday opposed in the Delhi High Court an anticipatory bail plea by former IAS probationer Puja Khedkar, accused of cheating and wrongly availing OBC and disability quota benefits, and said she committed a fraud against the commission and the public.

The Delhi Police also sought dismissal of the pre-arrest bail plea on the ground that any relief to her would hinder its probe into the “deep rooted conspiracy” and that the case has wider implications on public trust as well as the integrity of the civil services examination.

Justice Subramonium Prasad listed the matter for hearing on August 29, and extended the interim protection from arrest granted to Khedkar in the meantime.

In its reply filed in court, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) said Khedkar’s custodial interrogation was necessary to unearth the magnitude of the “fraud” that could not have been done without the help of other individuals. Therefore, her pre-arrest bail plea should be dismissed, it said.

“The gravity of the fraud committed is unprecedented in nature having been committed against not only a constitutional body -- the complainant -- whose traditions are untrammelled

and unparalleled but also against the public at large, including the citizens of this country who have utmost faith upon the credibility of the UPSC as well as persons who could not be appointed despite being duly eligible and qualified due to illegal means employed by the applicant to seek appointment,” the reply filed through advocate Vardhman Kaushik said.

The court granted time to Khedkar to respond to the stand of the UPSC as well as the Delhi Police. Khedkar allegedly misrepresented information in her application for the UPSC Civil Services Examination-2022 to get reservation benefits.

The Delhi Police, in its status report, asserted that investigation has revealed that she was not entitled to benefits as an “OBC+Non-Creamy Layer” candidate but she hatched a conspiracy with other persons to get that benefit by showing that her parents are divorced.