The Delhi High Court on Thursday extended the interim protection from arrest to sacked IAS trainee Puja Khedkar till September 5.
Puja is accused of falsifying documents and misrepresenting facts to crack the crack the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination and becoming a trainee IAS officer. She has denied the charges.
Following the uproar over the emergence of complaints against her, the UPSC had on July 31 cancelled Puja’s provisional candidature and barred her from appearing in any future UPSC exams. The UPSC also initiated a criminal case against her for cheating, fraudulence, and forgery.
Previously, Puja on Wednesday claimed that the UPSC has no authority to disqualify her. She said in court filings ahead of the Thursday’s hearing that once she has been appointed as a trainee, only the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) of the Union government can take action against her, according to NDTV.
The case against Puja Khedkar
Puja is accused of submitting false documents to appear as a candidate from the other backward classes (OBC) quota, according to NDTV.
The report said that Puja is accused of appeared for the UPSC exam more than the six attempts she was eligible for by falsely appearing as an OBC candidate for whom additional attempts are provisioned. It is also alleged that she changed her name and that of her parents for this.
The Delhi Police told the court that there was a “deep-rooted conspiracy” at play here and that the case had wider implications on public trust as well as the integrity of the civil services examination and hence the pre-arrest bail plea should be rejected, as per NDTV.
The Delhi HC, however, extended the protection to Puja till Sept. 5.
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Puja Khedkar, sacked IAS trainee, gets protection from arrest till Sept 5
