The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered a stay on the arrest of former IAS probationary officer Puja Khedkar who was accused of fraudulently appearing for the UPSC civil service examination 2022.
The top court issued a notice to the Delhi Police and the UPSC on Puja Khedkar's plea seeking anticipatory bail and directed the protection to operate until the next hearing date.
A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma posted the matter for further hearing on February 14 and ordered that no coercive action be taken against her.
Khedkar is accused of misrepresenting information in her application for the UPSC civil services examination to avail of reservation benefits. She had refuted all the allegations against her.
Earlier, the Delhi High Court had dismissed Khedkar's plea for anticipatory bail stating the existence of a strong prima facie case and said an investigation was necessary to unearth the "larger conspiracy" to manipulate the recruitment system.
“It's a classic example of fraud, not only with a constitutional body but also with society and the nation as a whole,” the bench said in its observations.
Khedkar had expressed willingness to cooperate with the probe and claimed that a custodial interrogation was unnecessary.
However, the Delhi police informed the court that a custodial interrogation may be required to uncover the “larger conspiracy”. The police also submitted that certain aspects of the case still need to be examined and accused Khedkar of making frequent changes to her name to fraudulently avail more attempts.
Opposing her anticipatory bail plea, the police claimed that a “larger conspiracy” was emerging in their investigation.
Recently, Delhi Police registered an FIR based on a complaint filed by the UPSC against Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar.
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