On Tuesday, March 18, the Supreme Court of India held that Puja Khedkar, a former IAS probationer who was charged with cheating and abuse of OBC and disability quota benefits in the civil services examination, cannot take separate attempts at the test as both an "able candidate" and a "disabled candidate."
A bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma fixed Khedkar's case for next hearing on April 15 after her counsel pleaded for more time to file an affidavit in reply to one furnished by the Delhi government. The court also prolonged the protection of arrest given to Khedkar on January 15 until April 15.
S.V. Raju, the Additional Solicitor General for the Delhi government, contended that Khedkar should be subjected to custodial interrogation to reveal the names of middlemen who allegedly issued fake disability certificates to UPSC aspirants.
Responding, Khedkar's lawyer, Advocate Bina Madhavan, said that Khedkar would cooperate fully with the probe. Justice Sharma reacted by saying that if the authorities wanted to know the names of the middlemen, Khedkar's cooperation should be enough.
Raju, on the other hand, was adamant about arresting Khedkar, stating that otherwise she would not reveal the role of middlemen in the scam. The ASG reiterated the fact that Khedkar had employed a forged disability certificate to get extra chances for the UPSC examinations, which she had been trying since 2012. With the help of the fake certificate, she had gotten extra chances to clear the exam.
Madhavan rebutted Raju's assertions, stating that Khedkar's disability certificate was genuine, having been obtained after she appeared before a medical board at AIIMS, and that she had not exhausted her efforts as a disabled candidate. She also insisted that no fraud was perpetrated.
The bench told her that it was not proper for Khedkar to make separate attempts as both an able-bodied and disabled candidate. Madhavan said she would submit more documents to plead Khedkar's case.
Raju countered that Khedkar's disability certificate was false and that there was incorrect and misleading information on her application forms. He wanted the court to hasten the hearing of the case.
The Supreme Court will take up the case once again on April 15.
Earlier, Khedkar's anticipatory bail plea was rejected by the Delhi High Court, which ruled that there was a strong prima facie case against her. The court said an investigation needed to be done to reveal a bigger conspiracy and granting relief to her would prejudice the probe.
On December 23, 2024, the high court rejected granting anticipatory bail to Khedkar, citing the seriousness of the case, involving charges of fraud against a constitutional authority. The court also quashed Khedkar's interim protection from arrest.
Khedkar had received interim protection from arrest on August 12, 2024, when the high court put her anticipatory bail plea in abeyance and granted her protection from time to time.
The UPSC and Delhi Police had opposed Khedkar's bail application, stating that her actions constituted a major fraud on the public and the UPSC.
The probe was ongoing, with an FIR having been lodged by the police against Khedkar for allegedly using fake data to obtain extra chances in the civil services examination.
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