The Supreme Court on Friday extended its interim protection from arrest to former IAS trainee officer Puja Khedkar accused of forging her documents to obtain eligibility for the 2022 Union Public Service Commission test under the reservation for other backward classes (OBC) and persons with benchmark disabilities.
Posting Puja Khedkar plea for hearing on February 14, the bench in its order said, “Till next date of hearing, no coercive steps to be taken against petitioner (Khedkar).”
The development comes weeks after the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) cancelled her provisional candidature and permanently debarred her from all the future exams/selections.
The action against the trainee IAS officer came in the wake of probe for allegedly lying about her visual and mental disabilities and faking her identity to clear the prestigious civil services entrance exam.
“The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has conducted a detailed and thorough investigation into the misdemeanour of Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar, a provisionally recommended candidate of the Civil Services Examination-2022.
The Maharashtra government on Tuesday relieved the probationary IAS officer from her ongoing District Training program in the state and asked her to return to the Academy.
Embattled trainee IAS officer Puja Khedkar may be dismissed from service if she is found guilty of violation of rules of appointment, official sources said on Friday, even as a video emerged where her mother can be seen threatening a group of men with a gun over a land dispute.
