Former IAS intern Puja Khedkar spoke to the media. document. |Picture source: ANI
The Supreme Court extended it to April 21 on Tuesday (April 15, 2025) to avoid arresting former IAS trialist Puja Khedkar, accused of cheating on the civil service exam and misusing the OBC and disability quota benefits.
The judge composed of Justices Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma noted the submission of Ms. Kaedka’s lawyer, whose rejoined the reply to the Delhi government, was not documented yet.
The bench recorded the submissions and listed the matter on April 21 and asked Apex Court Registry to verify whether Khedkar’s re-join was filed.
Meanwhile, the bench allowed her attorney’s request to extend her protection to the next hearing date, the arrest of her on January 15.
Read Also | Unable to use UPSC exam attempts as a candidate for “ability” and “disability”: SC to Puja Khedkar
On March 18, the top court verbally told Ms. Khedkar that she could not try to clear the exam alone as a “capable candidate” and a “disabled candidate”.
Other Deputy Attorney General SV Raju, who appeared for the Delhi government, has said that they need to conduct a custody trial of Ms. Khedkar to identify the identity of the intermediary involved in the alleged preparation of false disability certificates for UPSC aspirants.
Advocate Bina Madhavan appeared in court for Ms. Khedkar, who said they had written a probe agency to introduce her willingness to collaborate in the investigation.
On January 15, the Supreme Court gave Ms. Khedkar protection from arrest and sought a response from the Delhi government and a response to her defense counsel who sought expected bail.
Her lawyers earlier argued that the Delhi High Court made strong observations of Hedka when it rejected her expected bail request.
Ms. Khedkar is accused of misrepresenting information in the application for the 2022 UPSC Civil Service Exam to obtain booking benefits. She refuted all the allegations against her.
The High Court, when dismissing her expected bail request, found a powerful superficial case against Ms. Khedkar and said an investigation was needed to uncover a “larger plot” to manipulate the system and allow probation to adversely affect it.
When the High Court issued a notice on 12 August 2024 on her expectant bail request, the notice was extended from time to time, Ms. Kadeka was granted temporary protection.
UPSC launched a series of actions against Ms. Kadeka, including accommodation in criminal cases, as attempted to make an attempt in the civil service exam for her identity, while Delhi police raised FIR against her for various crimes.
publishing – April 15, 2025 02:51 pm ist
