(Riya Singh, Intern Journalist): Supreme Court today refused to order a postponement of the UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2020, scheduled to be conducted on October 4.
The court directed UPSC to ensure that all Covid-19 protocols are followed and that their guidelines are in line with that of MHA. If the SOP issued by UPSC are found not to be in conformity, then a supplementary SOP will have to be issued.
On the request of granting an extra chance to those aspirants who may not appear in their last attempt for the exam due to the pandemic, the Court has asked Additional Solicitor General (ASG), Raju, to explore the possibility of giving them one more attempt without extending age limit. The ASG agreed to take it into consideration and decide accordingly.
The Court, taking into consideration that different States have different SOP’s, has asked UPSC to issue directions to states to see that candidates with admit cards will find suitable accommodations near the exam centers. The Court observed that it is not possible for Court to entertain general prayers like allowing COVID patients to appear in the exam with the separate arrangements and said that it will not issue directions on this aspect any further. However, it has asked UPSC to ensure separate sitting arrangements for candidates who are suffering from cough and cold during the test.
The Court did not agree with the suggestion of merging the 2020 prelims and 2021 prelims as resorting to this, the court believed, will lead to a cascading effect on other exams. The Court has therefore asked UPSC to make available all facilities and follow all protocols. A Division Bench of Supreme Court Justices AM Khanwilkar and Sanjiv Khanna had on Thursday issued notices to both the Union Public Service Commission and the Union of India.
A plea was filed seeking postponement of the Civil Services Exam scheduled to be held in October for 2 to 3 months, to give time to the Covid situation to get better and the State governments to be more prepared with proper guidelines for conducting the exam. In the present situation, conducting the exam with so many aspirants may further spread the virus. The plea was filed by Advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava on behalf of 20 UPSC aspirants challenging the decision of conducting of the Prelims for Civil Services Examination 2020, on October 4. According to them, the Calendar for the UPSC exam is arbitrary and violating the Right to Health and Life of the aspirants, under Article 21 of the Constitution. The Petitioner aspirants had contended that they may not be able to take the UPSC examination due to fear of the risk of illness or death, and the Revised Calendar is therefore violating the right to practice their chosen profession of serving the public, under Article 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution.
Earlier on September 28, the top court had asked the UPSC to apprise it about the “logistical arrangements” made for conducting civil services preliminary exams on October 4 in view of rising cases of COVID-19 and floods in various parts of the country.
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