New Delhi: Delhi’s Patiala House court on Thursday rejected the anticipatory bail request of Puja Khedkar, who is accused of clearing the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination through fraudulent means.
Khedkar had approached the court seeking protection from arrest in a case where she allegedly falsified her identity to secure extra attempts for the UPSC exam.
Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala of the Patiala House Court also instructed the Delhi Police to expand their investigation into the matter.
Earlier on Wednesday the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) announced the cancellation of Puja Khedkar’s provisional candidature for the Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2022 and her permanent debarment from all future exams and selections.
On July 18, the UPSC issued a show cause notice (SCN) to Khedkar, requiring her to respond by July 25. Khedkar requested additional time to gather documents, which led the UPSC to extend the deadline to July 30. Despite this extension and a clear warning that no further delays would be tolerated, Khedkar failed to submit her response within the stipulated timeframe.
After thoroughly examining the available records, the UPSC determined that Khedkar had indeed violated the CSE-2022 Rules. Consequently, her provisional candidature was revoked, and she was permanently barred from participating in any future UPSC examinations.
In response to this incident, the UPSC conducted an extensive review of data from over 15,000 candidates recommended from 2009 to 2023, focusing on the number of attempts each candidate had made.
Khedkar’s case was the only instance where a candidate exceeded the allowed number of attempts. The UPSC’s Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) had failed to detect Khedkar’s additional attempts due to her changing not only her name but also her parents’ names.
