The Centre has informed the Supreme Court that it will not be feasible to give another chance at the civil services main examination to aspirants who fell sick with COVID-19 when the exam was held in January. The court was conveyed this during the course of the hearing on the plea by three civil service aspirants who missed out from appearing for the UPSC mains exam because they were tested positive for Covid-19.
“A number of representations were received in the The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) putting forth the same demand of compensatory/extra attempt… The matter has been considered and it has not been found feasible to change the existing provisions regarding the number of attempts and age-limit in respect of the civil services examination,” the Centre said in an affidavit.
The exam is conducted by the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) annually in accordance with the Civil Services Examination (CSE) Rules notified by the DoPT every year for a particular CSE.
“It is also submitted that any relaxation to age-limit and number of permissible attempts due to COVID-19 pandemic could lead to similar demands being made by the other categories of candidates. It will also impinge on the chances of other candidates…” the DoPT, represented by Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, submitted.
Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, for the petitioners, also told the bench that the petitioners have also filed their rejoinder to the UPSC’s counter this morning. Adjourning the matter to Monday, the bench passed its order directing the registry to verify that the Union of India has filed its counter affidavit yesterday and that the rejoinder has been filed by the petitioners this morning, requiring the copies thereof to be circulated.
