SC protects ex-IAS probationer Puja from arrest till Feb 14

Facing imminent arrest for alleged cheating and wrongly availing of OBC and disability quota benefits in the civil services examination, former IAS probationer Puja Khedkar on Wednesday got a major relief from the Supreme Court which protected her from arrest till February 14.

Asking the Delhi Government and the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to respond to Khedkar’s anticipatory bail plea by February 14, a Bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice SC Sharma said, “Till the next date of hearing, no coercive steps to be taken against petitioner.”

The order came after senior advocate Siddharth Luthra submitted on behalf of Khedkar that while rejecting her anticipatory bail plea, the Delhi High Court strongly indicted her, raising apprehension of arrest.

Khedkar had challenged the Delhi High Court’s December 23 judgment rejecting her anticipatory bail plea and vacating the interim protection granted to her in the case.

She joined the Pune Collectorate in June last year as a probationer and on July 31, the UPSC cancelled her candidature and debarred her permanently from all the future examinations after she was found guilty of “acting in contravention of the Civil Services Examination-2022 Rules”.