The Delhi High Court on Friday fixed August 12 for hearing on former IAS officer Puja Khedkar’s plea challenging a district court’s decision denying her anticipatory bail. The FIR against her alleges that she faked her identity to gain more attempts than permitted in the civil services examination. Puja Khedkar’s anticipatory bail hearing has been rescheduled to Monday, as the bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad did not assemble on Friday.
Khedkar’s plea in Delhi High Court follows the dismissal of her plea by Delhi’s Patiala House Court last week, which found the allegations against her—related to falsifying identity for extra attempts in the civil services examination—to be serious and in need of thorough investigation.
The trial court Judge said custodial interrogation of the accused is required to unearth the whole conspiracy and to establish involvement of the other persons involved in conspiracy.
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In the present facts and circumstances, said Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala, he was of the considered opinion that it is not a fit case to exercise discretionary powers of anticipatory bail in favour of the accused.
The Court noted that in the present case, the applicant/accused has been charged for the commission of offence punishable under Section 420/468/471/120B IPC and 66D IT Act and 89/91 Rights of Persons with Disability Act, 2016. The applicant/accused has cheated the complainant by misrepresentation.
The complainant/UPSC, in order to attain the misrepresentation, has prepared various documents to support her claim. The conspiracy has been hatched in a pre-planned manner. The conspiracy was executed by the applicant/accused over many years, said the court.
The applicant/accused alone could not have executed the conspiracy without the assistance of some outsider or insider. It is also contended by the lawyer for Delhi Police that the OBC (non-creamy layer) status and person with multiple benchmark disability are also under scrutiny and investigation, noted the Court.
The court further said that the complainant/UPSC, being a constitutional body, is conducting the exams for the prestigious posts to which aspirants from the whole country are applying. Therefore, the complainant is required to maintain the highest degree of transparency and fairness in its standard operating procedure. It is also an admitted case of the complainant that its standard operating procedure (SOP) has been breached by the applicant/accused; therefore, the complainant should introspect because its scrutiny system has failed to curb the breach. The present case may be only the tip of the iceberg because if the applicant/accused can breach the scrutiny system of the complainant, why not others.
Therefore, in order to maintain reputation, fairness, sanctity, and faith of aspirants and general public, there is a need on the part of the complainant to strengthen its SOP to ensure that such an event does not occur in future. The complainant also needs to relook its recommendations made in the recent past to find out the candidates (a) who have illegally availed the attempts beyond permissible limits; (b) who have obtained the OBC (non-creamy layer) benefit despite not being entitled; (c) who had obtained the benefits of persons with benchmark disability, despite being not entitled, said the court.
The investigating agency also needs to widen its scope of investigation. Hence the investigating agency is directed to conduct its investigation in all fairness to find out the candidates recommended in recent past (a) who have illegally availed the attempts beyond permissible limits; (b) who have obtained the OBC (non-creamy layer) benefit, despite not being entitled; (c) who had obtained the benefits of persons with benchmark disability, despite being not entitled; and (d) the investigating agency shall also find out whether some insider from the complainant side has also helped the applicant to attain her illegal goals, stated the court.
Recently, Delhi High Court has granted liberty to former probationary IAS Puja Khedkar to approach the appropriate forum to challenge the cancellation of her candidature. Meanwhile, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has informed the Court that it will provide Puja Khedkar with the order cancelling her candidature within two days.
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