Puja Khedkar moves Delhi HC seeking anticipatory bail in cheating case

According to a report by PTI, today, Thursday, August 8, former IAS (Indian Administrative Service) probationer Puja Khedkar, who has been accused of cheating and wrongly securing Other Backward Classes (OBC) and disability quota benefits, approached the Delhi High Court (HC) seeking anticipatory bail in the criminal case against her. This was stated in a report by PTI. 

Her plea for pre-arrest bail is scheduled for hearing before Justice Subramonium Prasad, tomorrow, Friday, August 9. 

Khedkar allegedly misrepresented information in her application for the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) Civil Services Examination, 2022 to get reservation benefits.

To recall, on July 31, the UPSC cancelled Khedkar's candidature and debarred her from future exams. On August 1, a sessions court here denied anticipatory bail to her and said there are serious allegations against her which "require a thorough investigation".

Khedkar, who has not been arrested in the case, had approached the sessions court, saying she faces an "immediate threat of arrest".

"Custodial interrogation of the accused is required to unearth the whole conspiracy and to establish the involvement of the other persons involved in the conspiracy," the sessions court had said, adding that the case is "only the tip of the iceberg".

Furthermore, the judge had directed the Delhi Police to conduct its investigation "in all fairness" to find out candidates recommended in the recent past who might have illegally availed of such benefits, and whether some insider from the UPSC also helped Khedkar.

Following this, in response to Khedkar's claim of having been falsely implicated in the case and being a victim of media trial and witch-hunt, the sessions court had said the argument was not tenable because there was sufficient incriminating material on record.

"The conspiracy has been hatched in a pre-planned manner. The conspiracy was executed by the accused in many years," it said. 

"The accused alone could not have executed the conspiracy without the assistance of some outsider or insider," it added.