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Aspirants who exhausted last UPSC prelims attempt in 2020 can’t appear again: Supreme Court
UPSC exams: The Centre was initially not willing to concede to giving an extra chance but it was later done at the suggestion of the bench.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition filed by those who exhausted their final attempt in October 2020, seeking an extra chance to appear for Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) preliminary examinations.
The bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar had reserved its verdict on February 9 on a plea, by over 100 petitioners, that had sought one more chance in the UPSC's civil services exam for those aspirants who could not appear in their last attempt in October 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. They were barred by age or number of attempts and were ineligible to appear in the preliminary exam to be conducted this year.
The Centre had told the top that it was against granting one-time relaxation on age limit to UPSC civil service aspirants, including those who had exhausted their last attempt in the 2020 exam amid the Covid-19 pandemic and would get one more chance this year provided they are not age barred, as it would be discriminatory to other candidates. It informed the court that the candidates who gave their last attempt examination in October 2020 would get one more chance this year provided they are not age barred.
“This is not the exam where you prepare at the last minute. People prepare for years together,” additional solicitor general S V Raju, representing the Centre, had told the bench, adding, “My first offer remains”.
The Centre was initially not willing to concede to giving an extra chance but it was later done at the suggestion of the bench. It had argued that nearly 34,000 last attempt candidates had applied for the preliminary examination 2020 and if such relaxation is granted once, these candidates will be eligible to seek similar relief and it will unnecessarily block chances of the aspirants appearing for the preliminary examination this year.
Candidates of the general category get six attempts till the age of 32 years, while those in the OBC category get nine attempts till the age of 35 years, and unlimited attempts till 37 years of age if they belong to SC/ST category.
