New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday (February 14) extended till March 17 protection from arrest to former probationary Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Puja Khedkar, accused of cheating and wrongly availing Other Backward Classes (OBC) and disability quota benefits in the civil services examination.
A bench comprising Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, while extending thee protection from arrest, directed Khedkar to cooperate in the investigation.
Additional Solicitor General SV Raju sought rime to file reply in the matter and the bench directed him to file reply within three weeks.
Khedkar moved apex court against High Court order
Khedkar moved the top court against the Delhi High Court order dismissing her plea for anticipatory bail in a case filed by the Delhi Police on a complaint made by the UPSC.
The apex court earlier on January 15, while hearing Khedkar’s plea seeking anticipatory bail, issued notice to the Delhi government and the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
Khedkar is accused of cheating, wrongly availing quota benefits
Khedkar is accused of cheating, wrongly availing OBC and disability quota benefits in the civil services examination.
What did the High Court say?
The High Court on December 23 last year rejected Khedkar’s plea anticipatory bail plea, saying that a strong prima facie case was made out against her and an investigation was required to unearth the “larger conspiracy” to manipulate the system and grant of anticipatory bail would adversely impact it. It also said that the UPSC examination was the most prestigious test and the present case was a classic instance of fraud committed on a constitutional body as well as the society.
Trial court earlier refused to grant Khedkar anticipatory bail
Khedkar moved the High Court against an order of the trial court refusing to grant her anticipatory bail. The trial court, while rejecting her anticipatory bail plea, also directed the Delhi Police to widen its probe into the matter and to also investigate if Khedkar got help from anyone from inside the UPSC and also probe if the benefits under OBC and PwD quotas without entitlement have been availed by other persons also.
