Disability certificate of Khedkar may be forged: Delhi Police

Delhi Police suspects former IAS probationer Puja Khedkar submitted forged disability certificates to UPSC, facing cheating charges.

The Delhi Police has told the Delhi High Court that one of the two disability certificates submitted by former IAS probationer Puja Khedkar to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to show multiple disabilities may be “forged” and “fabricated”.

The Delhi Police said Ms. Khedkar submitted the two disability certificates for the Civil Services Examinations-2022 and Civil Services Examinations-2023 respectively.

The “Issuing Medical Authority, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra” after verification has, however, claimed that the certificate that showed locomotor disability, hearing impairment and low vision was not issued in accordance with the “Civil Surgeon Office Records” and “the possibility of the disability certificate being forged and fabricated is more likely”, the police said.

The Delhi Police made the submission in response to the anticipatory bail plea of Ms. Khedkar, who has been accused of cheating and wrongly availing Other Backward Classes (OBC) and disability quota benefits.

The court is scheduled to take up the case on Thursday.

On July 31, UPSC cancelled Ms. Khedkar’s candidature. The Commission has also opposed the anticipatory bail plea by Ms. Khedkar saying she committed a fraud against the Commission and the public.

Earlier, the court had granted interim protection from arrest to Ms. Khedkar, who has been accused of fraudulently clearing the UPSC exam.