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Puja Khedkar case: SC asks Delhi Police to wrap up probe; says ‘can’t have separate attempts for abled and disabled’ candidates

Puja Khekdar’s counsel denied that she had exhausted her attempts in the UPSC exam. She said Khedkar was diagnosed with a low-vision disability in 2018 and had only made three attempts since.

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and S C Sharma extended the interim protection from arrest granted to Khedkar and fixed the matter for hearing next on April 15. (Express Photo)

The Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned the Delhi Police for insisting on the custodial interrogation of former IAS trainee Puja Khedkar, who has been accused of fraudulently clearing the civil services examination, and asked it to complete the investigation “steadfastly”. It also told Khedkar she cannot avail of separate attempts to clear the test as an “able candidate” and a “disabled candidate”.

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and S C Sharma extended the interim protection from arrest granted to Khedkar and fixed the matter for hearing next on April 15.

Appearing for the Delhi Police, Additional Solicitor General S V Raju said Khedkar’s custody was needed to unravel the “larger scam”. The law officer said that Khedkar was entitled to only nine attempts in the UPSC exam based on her OBC quota, disability, etc but made more attempts by forging documents and changing names. He said that custodial interrogation was necessary to find out who the middlemen involved were etc.

“We have found that this is a scam which may involve persons who are involved in giving certificates, etc. We want to investigate whether hers is an isolated case or there is a larger number of cases,” said Raju.

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Justice Sharma, however, said, “If larger number of cases, you can investigate. She is not the kingpin who is issuing certificates.”

Justice Nagarathna also doubted the need for custodial interrogation while agreeing that the origin of the fake certificates needed to be found.

Refuting the ASG’s submission, Khedkar’s counsel said the disability certificate was not a standalone and that she had to appear before an AIIMS medical board that confirmed her disability. “There was no fraud as alleged. I got the disability certificate in 2018 and my attempts to clear the UPSC exam as a disabled candidate are not exhausted,” the counsel submitted.

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Khekdar’s counsel also denied that she had exhausted her attempts at the UPSC exam and said that she was diagnosed with a low-vision disability only in 2018 and had since then made only three attempts and six more remained.

“Since 2012, I had been attempting the UPSC examination and in 2018, for the first time, I was found to be eligible for 40 per cent disability which entitles me to nine attempts,” the counsel stated.

The bench, however, disagreed and said the total number of attempts has to be the same for abled and disabled candidates. “No…You cannot have separate attempts for abled and separate attempts for disabled.”

Extending the interim protection, Justice Nagarathna told the Delhi Police, “You must track up this investigation steadfastly.”

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Delhi Police