Manorama Khedkar, mother of former IAS trainee officer Puja Khedkar, was released from Yerawada Central Jail today (August 3) after the Pune Court granted her bail on August 2 in a criminal intimidation case related to a land dispute. She was arrested by Pune rural police last month. The case was filed in the Paud police station.
In July, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) cancelled the provisional candidature of Puja Khedkar and permanently debarred her from all future exams and selections. Meanwhile, the Delhi Court on Thursday dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of Puja Khedkar and said the allegations against the accused are grave and serious, which require thorough investigation.
Custodial interrogation of the accused is required to unearth the whole conspiracy and to establish the involvement of the other persons involved in the conspiracy. In the present facts and circumstances, I am of the considered opinion that it is not a fit case to exercise discretionary powers of anticipatory bail in favour of the accused, Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala had said.
Bail to Manorama Khedkar
A Pune court on Friday (August 2) granted bail to Puja Khedkar’s mother Manorama in an attempt to murder case which was filed after she was seen in a video allegedly brandishing a gun while confronting a group of people over a land dispute.
Additional Sessions Judge AN Mare granted bail to Manorama Khedkar, a fortnight after she was arrested, and imposed a set of conditions on her, said her counsel advocate Sudhir Shah.
The Judge, while allowing the bail application, stated in the order that Manorama Khedkar be released on executing a personal bond of Rs 50,000 with one or more sureties of the same amount. The court asked the accused not to influence witnesses and cooperate in the investigation of the case.
"The applicant shall not contact the informant and witnesses in the case by any mode of communication and shall not try to influence them in any manner," the order stated.
The order also stated that the applicant shall not enter the jurisdiction of Pune's Paud police station, where the case has been registered, till the investigation was completed and cooperate in the ongoing probe. She should attend the police station concerned as and when required by the investigating officer and for such purpose, she can enter its jurisdiction, it said. The applicant shall not leave Pune district without informing the investigating officer and jurisdictional magistrate till the probe against her was completed, said the court.
Advocate Shah, during his argument on the bail plea, told the court that the application of IPC section 307 (attempt to murder) was unwarranted in the case as no bullet was fired. The video came to light around the time when Puja Khedkar’s selection for civil services was under the scanner.
The police had booked the Khedkar couple and five others under IPC sections, including 307 (attempt to murder), 144 (unlawful assembly armed with deadly weapon), 147 (rioting) and 506 (criminal intimidation) besides invoking the Arms Act.
Manorama Khedkar was apprehended from a lodge in Hirkaniwadi village in Raigad district and placed under arrest in mid-July. Her husband Dilip Khedkar has already secured anticipatory bail in the case.
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Wednesday (July 31) said it had cancelled the provisional candidature of probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar and debarred her from all future examinations or selections.
A day later, a Delhi court denied anticipatory bail to Puja Khedkar, who has been accused of cheating and wrongly availing of OBC and disability quota benefits, saying these are serious allegations that "require a thorough investigation".
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