The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued a notice to former probationary Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Puja Khedkar in response to a plea by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) seeking perjury proceedings against her. The UPSC alleges that Khedkar made false statements regarding its press release on the cancellation of her candidature and filed a false affidavit in court.
Justice Jyoti Singh’s bench asked Khedkar to respond within three weeks, with the next hearing scheduled for November 26.
Khedkar was dismissed from service on September 7, following a July 31 UPSC press release that announced her disqualification after she failed to respond to a show-cause notice. The notice alleged that she had fraudulently exceeded the allowed number of attempts for the civil services exam by falsifying her identity.
In its application, UPSC stated that Khedkar, in her plea to quash the press release, argued she could not be disqualified as the decision had not been formally communicated to her, nor had she been given time to respond. UPSC countered this claim, stating that the decision was communicated to her via registered email on July 31. The commission further noted that Khedkar falsely cited the July 31 press release in a court affidavit dated July 28, when the press release had not yet been issued. UPSC argued that this false affidavit amounts to contempt and perjury, warranting legal action.
The UPSC contended that Khedkar’s false statements were made to obtain favorable court orders, stressing that making such false claims under oath is a serious offense that undermines the judicial system.
On Thursday, UPSC’s lawyer Naresh Kaushik urged the court to take a “serious view” of Khedkar’s conduct, noting that she had even misled her lawyer by claiming she had not received the cancellation order and had only learned of it through the press release. Khedkar’s lawyer maintained that she was unaware of the email.
Khedkar is also facing charges under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, including Section 420 (cheating), Section 468 (forgery for cheating), Section 471 (using a forged document), Section 120B (criminal conspiracy), along with charges under the Information Technology Act and the Rights of Persons with Disability Act.
Khedkar had exhausted all nine attempts permitted for candidates with benchmark disabilities and belonging to Other Backward Classes by 2020 and was ineligible for the 2021 exam. She is alleged to have changed her name in 2021 and fraudulently appeared for the civil services exams in 2021, 2022, and 2023 by providing false information regarding her previous attempts.
