After the cancellation of the candidature of former probationer IAS officer Puja Khedkar on July 31, a Delhi court further ruled that anticipatory bail shall not be granted to the maligned officer today, Thursday, August 1.
Court further instructed to probe into other possible transgressions
Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala of Patiala House Courts instructed the investigating agency to expand its investigation and ensure that the probe is conducted with complete fairness.
It further directed the agency to investigate the past candidates' history, who may have availed of such benefits beyond permissible limits and may have misused Other Backward Classes (OBC) category reservation benefits without being entitled to the same, reported LiveLaw.
The judge also instructed the investigating agency to identify candidates who have received benefits under the persons with benchmark disabilities category despite not being eligible.
The court stated in its order that the investigating agency must also determine whether someone from UPSC assisted Khedkar.
Pleading to put a stay on prosecution
Khedkar stands accused of “misrepresenting and falsifying facts" in her application for the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Services Examination, 2022. As per UPSC, she was found “guilty of acting in contravention of the provisions of the Civil Services Examination-2022 Rules”, as per LiveLaw.
Khedkar's advocate Bina Madhavan, pleaded to the court to put a stay on the criminal prosecution and grant an anticipatory bail to her. She said that as soon as the UPSC lodged the FIR, the media had been going around conducting a witch hunt against Khedkar.
She further contended that Khedkar, in good faith, listed the number of attempts as 5\five instead of 12, so there was no intention to misrepresent.
Khedkar's disability certificate issued by AIIMS?
Madhavan also added that Khedkar’s disability certificate, issued by an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) medical board, indicated she had 47% benchmark disabilities.
Khedkar's advocate allegedly said that the criminal prosecution against Khedkar was initiated as a result of her filing a sexual harassment complaint against a collector, who had summoned her to his office, which she refused.
As per the prosecutor, the investigation is still at a nascent stage, and her documents are yet to be probed into. For now, a show cause notice has been issued to her on the cancellation of her selection. She has also been barred from future examinations.
