SC grants protection from arrest to former IAS probationary officer Puja Khedkar
The Supreme Court court sought responses from the Delhi police and the UPSC which had cancelled Puja Khedkar’s candidature and said till the next date of hearing, no coercive steps shall be taken against her
The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted protection from arrest to former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) probationary officer Puja Khedkar who has been accused of fraudulently availing attempts in the civil services examination by suppressing information from the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

A bench of justices BV Nagarathna and SC Sharma issued notice on her petition seeking anticipatory bail in the case and posted the matter on February 14. The court sought responses from the Delhi police and the UPSC which had cancelled her candidature on July 31 last year and said, “Till the next date of hearing, no coercive steps shall be taken against the petitioner vis-a-vis the FIR registered against her.”
Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra appearing for Khedkar told the court that his client is apprehending arrest in the matter as the Delhi high court in December last year had refused her pre-arrest bail and dismissed her petition with scathing observations pointing to a larger conspiracy behind her attempt to dupe the UPSC. He even pointed out that Khedkar is a single woman whose career is at stake as currently she has lost her job.
The bench observed, “You are responsible for all this.” “She has not been arrested for more than 7 months. What is the apprehension that you have?” the court asked.
Luthra, assisted by advocate Bina Madhavan, told the bench that the Delhi high court since August last year had granted her protection from arrest. However, after her petition for anticipatory bail was rejected on December 23, there was a clear apprehension that police may arrest her.
The high court had observed that Khedkar’s case presented a “classic example” of a fraud committed not only against a constitutional body such as UPSC but also the society at large, and held that her interrogation was necessary to unearth the larger conspiracy employed by her to manipulate the system and reveal all aspects of the fraud committed against the nation. The high court also suspected the possibility of “unknown powerful persons” who helped her obtain the requisite certificates for appearing in CSE.
“The high court has indicted me, and the police may arrest me if my petition is not entertained,” Luthra said.
In her petition, Khedkar pointed out that the high court failed to appreciate that the charges against her pertaining mainly to cheating and fraud were based on documentary evidence already in possession of the Delhi police probing the matter. Further she stated that there was no requirement for her custodial interrogation as she had undertaken to cooperate with the probe. Earlier, a city court, too, had refused to grant her anticipatory bail.
The petition further highlighted the fact that she is an unmarried woman having no criminal antecedents and is a person with benchmark disability that was verified post her entry into the All India Services. After being successful in the Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2022 in the persons with benchmark disability (PwBD) category, Khedkar as a probationer was assigned to Indian Administrative service and allocated Maharashtra cadre.
The petition said she has been suffering from multiple disability of low vision, hearing impairment, and mental illness, which were recognised as multiple disabilities under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPwD Act). She belongs to Vanjari community which falls under other backward class (OBC), it added.
As per the case against her, from 2012 to 2017 she appeared in the CSE based on the OBC certificate issued to her by sub-divisional officer, Pathravi in district Ahmednagar, Maharashtra. In 2018, when the RPwD Act came into force, she became eligible to appear as PwBD candidate and appeared as such in the CSE since the year 2018.
According to the investigation conducted against her, by CSE 2020, she had already exhausted all the nine permissible attempts available to PwBD + OBC candidates and was not eligible to appear in the CSE 2021. However, she deliberately changed her name in the year 2021 and appeared in CSE 2021, 2022, and 2023 by making “incorrect or false statements” regarding the number of attempts already availed by her.
The UPSC had issued her show cause notices in July last year for alleged suppression of information. This was followed by show cause notice issued by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension before UPSC cancelled her provisional candidature on July 31, 2024.
The high court held, “The steps taken by the petitioner were a part of the large conspiracy to manipulate the system and investigation in this regard would be impacted if she is granted anticipatory bail. The present incident is a classic example of a fraud committed not only with the constitutional body but the society at large and necessary interrogation is warranted to reveal all the aspects related to the said fraud committed against the nation.”
She has been charged with commission of offense under Sections 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of Indian Penal Code; besides provisions under the Information Technology Act and RPwD Act.
