Court Dismisses Bail Plea of Trainee IAS Officer Accused of Fraud in UPSC Exam
Delhi’s Patiala House Court on Thursday dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of Puja Khedkar, a trainee IAS officer accused of using fraudulent means to clear the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination. Khedkar sought pre-arrest bail in a case filed against her for allegedly faking her identity to get more attempts at the UPSC exam. The court directed the Delhi Police to widen the scope of their investigation and to determine if any insiders at the UPSC aided her.
On Wednesday, the UPSC cancelled Khedkar’s provisional candidature and permanently debarred her from all future exams conducted by the commission. The UPSC stated that Khedkar was found guilty of contravening the CSE-2022 Rules by changing her identity and her parents’ names to increase her number of attempts. This incident prompted the UPSC to review data from over 15,000 candidates and strengthen their Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
The FIR against Khedkar was filed following a complaint by the UPSC, two weeks after she was relieved from the District Training Programme of the Maharashtra government. Despite securing an all-India rank of 821 in the UPSC exams, Khedkar’s actions have led to significant scrutiny and a thorough investigation by the Delhi Police.
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