Delhi High Court Allows Puja Khedkar to Challenge UPSC’s Decision
The Delhi High Court has given former probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar the freedom to challenge the cancellation of her candidature by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). The court has instructed the UPSC to provide Khedkar with the cancellation order within two days.
The bench of Justice Jyoti Singh clarified that it has not examined or expressed any opinion on the merits of the case. The court also stated that the filing of the petition will not affect the adjudication of the issue by the appropriate forum.
Advocate Indira Jaising, representing Khedkar, mentioned that Khedkar is specifically requesting the formal delivery of the cancellation order and the quashing of the press release related to the cancellation. Naresh Kaushik, representing the UPSC, explained that the press release was issued because Khedkar’s whereabouts were unknown and served as a formal intimation regarding the cancellation of her candidature.
Khedkar had moved the Delhi High Court challenging the UPSC’s decision to cancel her candidature. On July 31, the UPSC issued a press statement announcing the cancellation of Khedkar’s provisional candidature due to accusations of cheating and forgery. The UPSC found her violating rules and debarred her from all future exams and selections.
The UPSC had given Khedkar time until 3:30 pm on July 30, 2024, to respond to a Show Cause Notice, which she failed to do. As a result, her provisional candidature for the CSE-2022 was cancelled, and she was permanently debarred from all future UPSC exams and selections.
Doubts Revealed
Delhi High Court -: The Delhi High Court is a big building where judges work. They make important decisions about laws and people’s rights in Delhi, the capital city of India.
Puja Khedkar -: Puja Khedkar is a person who was training to become an IAS officer, which is a very important job in India where people help run the country.
UPSC -: UPSC stands for Union Public Service Commission. It is a group that organizes exams to select people for important government jobs in India.
IAS officer -: An IAS officer is someone who works for the Indian government to help manage and run different parts of the country. IAS stands for Indian Administrative Service.
candidature -: Candidature means being a candidate or a person who is trying to get a job or a position, like Puja Khedkar was trying to become an IAS officer.
cheating and forgery -: Cheating means breaking the rules to get an unfair advantage, and forgery means making fake documents or signatures. Both are wrong and can get you in trouble.
debarred -: Debarred means being officially stopped from doing something. In this case, Puja Khedkar is not allowed to take any more exams or apply for certain jobs.
