New Delhi: Controversial probationary IAS officer of Maharashtra, Puja Khedkar, who has been booked by the Delhi Police on charges of cheating, forgery and fraud, has filed an anticipatory bail plea in Delhi's Patiala House Court. The court was to hear Puja Khedkar's anticipatory bail plea on Tuesday, but the government lawyer sought more time to file reply in the matter after which the court adjourned the hearing till Wednesday.
Khedkar, a 2023 batch IAS officer, is in the middle of a row as the UPSC has filed a complaint against Puja Khedkar with Delhi Police, which has registered a case against her on charges including availing reservation through a fake certificate. Khedkar is accused of submitting a fake certificate claiming herself to be from OBC category before appearing in the UPSC examination. Puja Khedkar is accused of being recruited under the Nomadic Tribe-3 category to take advantage of caste reservation, which is reserved only for the Banjari community. Khedkar is also accused of applying for a fake disability certificate.
Following the allegations, the central government had constituted a single-member panel to investigate the allegations against Khedkar. The one-member panel submitted its investigation report to the Department of Personnel and Training on July 27.
Khedkar, who was on her probation in Maharashtra, was removed from field posting and asked to report to the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in Uttarakhand's Mussoorie. But she is yet to report to the academy.
Police arrested Khedkar's mother on July 18. A purported video of Puja Khedkar's mother went viral on social media, in which she was seen threatening some farmers in Mulshi with a pistol to grab their land. The police have registered an FIR in this case.
