UPSC is Granted 2 Weeks to File the Response by the High Court

The Delhi High Court granted the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) two weeks to file its answer to a petition challenging the Civil Services Preliminary Examination, 2023. After the UPSC counsel raised concerns about the petition’s maintainability and requested time to prepare a thorough response, Justice Chandra Dhari Singh scheduled a hearing three weeks later.

The appeal, filed by 17 Civil Services hopefuls, asked the High Court to order UPSC to cancel the CSE Prelims examination 2023 and reschedule it. The case has been heard by Justice Manoj Jain’s vacation bench. The petitioners, represented by counsel Rajeev Kumar Dubey, have stated that they were dissatisfied with the commission’s “arbitrariness” in executing the entire recruitment cycle. The request for reconsideration also challenges the UPSC news release from June 12 reporting the preliminary exam results and wants access to the Answer Key.

Highlights of the Process:

UPSC CSE Prelims 2023: The Next Hearing Will be in Three Weeks:
After the UPSC attorney raised concerns about the petition’s maintainability and requested time to prepare a thorough response, Justice Chandra Dhari Singh scheduled a hearing three weeks later.

What Does the Petition Say About the UPSC CSE 2023 Prelims?
According to the appeal, they experienced harm from the commission’s “arbitrariness” in executing the entire recruitment procedure. The petition further questioned the UPSC news release announcing the preliminary exam results on June 12 and demanded the publication of the solution key.

What Happened Before the UPSC CSE Prelims HC Hearing?
During the last hearing, UPSC advocates Naresh Kaushik opposed the partition, claiming that the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) was the proper forum for hearing the case.

UPSC CSE 2023 Prelims: What the Petitioners Had to Say Regarding the Answer Key?
The petition also challenges the UPSC news release dated June 12 announcing the preliminary exam results and requests the availability of the answer key. The petitioners claimed that by failing to provide the answer key and failing to consider their representations, the commission had violated “all principles of fairness, logic, and rationality.” It should be noted, however, that in the Prelims result press release, UPSC said that answer keys and cut-off marks for the CSE Prelims exam will be given when the entire exam process is completed (after final results).