The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended its January 15 interim order protecting from arrest former IAS trainee officer Puja Khedkar accused of forging her documents to be eligible for the 2022 Union Public Service Commission examination.
Extending its January 15 order protecting Puja Khedkar from arrest, a bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma also asked the Delhi police to speed up and complete the probe fast.
Asking Delhi police why it was not completing the probe, when Pooja Khedkar herself had stated in an affidavit that she was willing to cooperate with the investigation.
“You must track up this investigation steadfastly,” Justice Nagarathna told Additional Solicitor General SV Raju (ASG Raju), who was appearing for Delhi police.
The bench posted for April 15, 2025, to hear Pooja Khedkar’s plea for anticipatory bail.
In the course of the hearing today, ASG Raju told the bench that police need to have a custodial interrogation of Pooja Khedkar in order to unearth the larger scam of fake documents submitted by the UPSC candidates.
Saying that the custodial interrogation of Pooja Khedkar was required to unearth the scam, ASG Raju said, “We have found that this is a scam which may involve persons who are involved in giving certificates, etc. We want to investigate whether her’s is an isolated case or there is a larger number of cases.”
However, the bench said that the source from where Khedkar allegedly got forged certificates needs to be revealed but that does not require her to be necessarily kept in custody.
The advocate appearing for Pooja Khedkar, contested the allegations of forgery, and said that she was diagnosed with a low-vision disability only in 2018 and since then she has attempted UPSC thrice. Advocate said that her attempt as a disabled candidate has not been exhausted yet.
To this bench observed, “You must have to justify your attempts.”
Khedkar has approached the top court challenging the Delhi High court order rejecting her plea for anticipatory bail. On January 15, 2024, the top court had granted her interim protection from arrest and asked her to cooperate with the investigation.
Khedkar is accused of fraudulently availing reservation meant for Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Persons with Benchmark Disabilities in order to clear the UPSC exam.
The Delhi High Court while rejecting the anticipatory bail plea, had made strong observations against Khedkar saying it’s a “classic example of fraud, not only with a constitutional body but also with society and the nation as a whole.”
Stating that the interrogation was necessary to uncover the conspiracy involved, the Delhi High Court had noted that the father and the mother of Pooja Khedkar held a high-ranking position, thereby suggesting the possibility of collusion with influential individuals.