New Delhi. IAS probationer Pooja Khedkar is afraid of being arrested, so she has knocked the door of Delhi court. Probationary IAS officer Pooja Khedkar has filed an anticipatory bail petition in Delhi’s Patiala House Court. Patiala House Court will hear the petition today i.e. Tuesday at 2 pm. Earlier, Delhi Police had registered an FIR against Pooja Manorama Dilip Khedkar on the basis of a complaint filed by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
The Center had constituted a one-member panel to investigate all the allegations against controversial IAS Pooja Kherkar. On Saturday, the panel submitted its investigation report on Pooja to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). A few days ago, many allegations were leveled against 2023 batch IAS trainee Pooja, including misuse of power, taking advantage of reservation through fake certificates. This investigation committee was formed to investigate all those complaints. Additional Secretary of DoPT Manoj Dwivedi was in charge of the investigation. However, it is not yet known what is in the report.
In fact, Pooja had submitted a fake certificate showing herself to be belonging to the ‘backward’ (OBC) category before appearing for the UPSC exam. While studying at a medical college in 2007, she was admitted under the OBC Nomadic Tribe-III category to avail the benefit of caste reservation, which is reserved only for the Banjari community. She had applied for a fake disability certificate after a fake caste identity certificate to get reservation benefits. Pooja Khedkar, 32, who joined the Pune Collectorate as part of her probationary training in June 2024, is accused of misusing quotas under Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) to pass the civil services exam.
What is in UPSC’s FIR?
Earlier this month, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) had filed an FIR against Khedkar and also issued a show cause notice to cancel his selection and bar him from future exams. Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangla of Patiala House Court had said in his order issued on July 27 that an application has been moved by the complainant for permission to file objection and assist the Additional Public Prosecutor under Section 338 of the Indian Civil Security Code (BNSS) 2023.
Section 338(2) of the BNSS states that if a private person instructs his advocate to prosecute any person in any court, the Public Prosecutor in charge of the case shall conduct the prosecution and the advocate so instructed shall, with the permission of the court, act under the directions of the Public Prosecutor.
Tags: IAS Officer, pune news, Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC)
FIRST PUBLISHED : July 30, 2024, 12:01 IST