The hearing on Sacked trainee Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer Puja Khedkar's plea for interim bail is set to take place on Thursday (September 26) in Delhi High Court. The protection Khedkar got against arrest in connection with the controversy also end on Thursday.
The Delhi Police earlier this month told the court that one of the disability certificates Khedkar submitted to the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) is likely to be fake. The police had filed a status report in this regard.
The Central government sacked Puja Khedkar on September 8 after a prolonged controversy that raised serious questions on process to select candidates for India's premier government cadre like IAS.
The Khedkar saga
Khedkar hit limelight when Pune District Collector officially asked for her transfer away from his office because of her demands for facilities not granted to a trainee IAS officer.
What initially appeared to be a disciplinary issue soon blew up into a full-fledged scandal when it came to light that Puja Khedkar has misused Physically Handicapped (PH) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) non-creamy layer quota. It also emerged that she had appeared for UPSC examination under different names and taken more attempts than were allowed as per rules.
It did not help her case when videos of her mother Manorama Khedkar threatening farmers with a gun went viral online. Her mother went on the run and was later arrested by the police.
Puja Khedkar meanwhile took a defiant stance and did not obey the summons of Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) which asked her to remain present to face further action. When UPSC sacked her Khedkar claimed that the commission did not have power to sack her. The action was then taken by the central government.
As issues mounted, an FIR was filed by Delhi Police against Khedkar. She got temporary protection from arrest the fate of which will be decided in Delhi High Court hearing today.
