On Tuesday, the Supreme Court extended the protection from arrest for former IAS probationer Puja Khedkar until April 21. Khedkar is accused of cheating and falsely claiming benefits under the OBC and disability quotas in the civil services exam. The bench, consisting of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma, noted that Khedkar's lawyer had submitted her reply to the Delhi government's response, but it has yet to be recorded. The bench scheduled the matter for a hearing on April 21 and directed the court registry to verify the filing of Khedkar's response.

Meanwhile, the court granted Khedkar's lawyer's request to extend the protection from arrest, originally granted on January 15, until the next hearing. On March 18, the court informed Khedkar that she could not take separate attempts for the test as both an "able" and "disabled" candidate. The Delhi government’s counsel, Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, argued for custodial interrogation to uncover the middlemen involved in the alleged scam of creating fake disability certificates for UPSC candidates. Khedkar's lawyer, Advocate Bina Madhavan, stated that Khedkar had expressed her willingness to cooperate with the investigation.

The Supreme Court had previously granted Khedkar protection from arrest on January 15 and sought responses from the Delhi government and the UPSC regarding her anticipatory bail request. Her counsel argued that the Delhi High Court had made strong observations against her while rejecting her anticipatory bail plea. Khedkar is accused of falsifying information on her application for the 2022 UPSC exam to receive reservation benefits, which she denies.

The High Court had found a strong prima facie case against Khedkar and emphasized the need for an investigation into a possible larger conspiracy to manipulate the system, cautioning that granting bail would negatively impact the investigation. Khedkar received interim protection from arrest when the High Court issued a notice on her anticipatory bail plea on August 12, 2024, and this protection has been extended several times since. The UPSC has taken action against Khedkar, including filing a criminal case for allegedly manipulating her identity to gain additional attempts in the exam, while the Delhi Police has also filed an FIR against her for multiple offenses.

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