E-Paper
Delhi HC questions SSC’s ban on online exam paper discussion; seeks govt, SSC reply
The Staff Selection Commission (SSC) has meanwhile activated its X account. The X account named @SSC_GoI is the authentic SSC account
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday raised concerns over a Staff Selection Commission (SSC) notification that prohibits discussion, analysis, or circulation of question papers from already conducted SSC exams on social media, and said that the commission cannot “impose such gag orders.”
A bench of chief justice DK Upadhyay and justice Tushar Rao Gedela, however, issued a notice on a petition filed by Vikas Kumar Mishra, challenging the SSC’s September 8 directive. The court asked the centre and the SSC to file their responses before the next hearing on December 17, after SSC’s counsel requested time to seek instructions.
“After coming out of the exam hall, the first thing that we used to do was … what is this? How is this being prohibited in the notification? Please, I don’t know how… You can’t put such gag orders,” the court said.
It added, “What is this? You can’t discuss question papers? Issue notice to the Respondents. List on December 17.”
Mishra, in his petition, contended that the action is illegal, arbitrary, and perverse, and therefore liable to be quashed as it infringes upon the students’ and the public’s right to freedom of speech. The notice, the petition stated, seeks to impose unreasonable restrictions.
“The said Notification has been passed contrary to the settled and established principles of law and therefore, deserves to be quashed. Further, the said notice directly seeks to infringe the basic fundamental right of speech and expression as enshrined under Article 19 of the Constitution of India, as the same unreasonably restricts discussion of examination which has already been conducted by Respondent No. 2 (SSC),” the plea said.
The SSC has meanwhile activated its X (formerly Twitter) account. The X account named @SSC_GoI is the authentic SSC account.
“This is to inform all candidates that the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) is now active on X (formerly Twitter). For timely updates, announcements, and other important information related to SSC exams and recruitment processes, you can follow us on our official X handle: @SSC_GoI,” the official notice reads.
The commission has also urged all the candidates to beware of similarly looking ‘X’ handles and follow the genuine SSC handle for authentic updates and avoid misinformation.
