The Delhi High Court has posted for hearing, on July 3, a plea filed by 17 civil services aspirants challenging the preliminary examination of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Services Examination, 2023.
The petition seeks the cancellation of the preliminary test and and re-conducting it with general studies papers 1 and 2, as well as the release of the answer key by the UPSC.
A bench of Justice Manoj Jain ordered the petition to be listed for the hearing on July 3 after an objection was raised by the advocate representing the UPSC, who argued that the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) should handle the matter as it is the cempetent forum.
The plea also challenges the press note issued by the UPSC on June 12 declaring the results of the preliminary examination.
In it, the UPSC had stated that “candidates are also informed that marks, cut off marks and answer keys of CS(P) Examination, 2023 will be uploaded on the Commission’s website i.e. https://upsc.gov.in only after the entire process of the Civil Services Examination 2023 is over, that is, after the declaration of final result”.
The petitioners allege arbitrariness in the conduct of the recruitment cycle, citing the lack of provision of answer keys, disregarding candidates’ representations, and posing excessively vague questions that require guesswork.
They argue that releasing the answer key after the exam would ensure fairness and allow candidates to have a better understanding of the evaluation process.
The petition also highlights that other institutions, such as state Public Service Commissions, IITs, NLUs, IIMs, and the High Court of Delhi for the Delhi Judicial Service Examination, promptly release provisional answer keys and invite objections from candidates before finalising the answer key based on those objections.
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