The Supreme Court will hear today a plea seeking an extra chance in the UPSC Civil Services exam for those candidates who missed their last attempt in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic.
A bench headed by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar had taken note of the submissions of Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, appearing on behalf of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on January 22 and had asked the government to file an affidavit to this effect.
"We are not ready to give one more chance. Give me the time to file an affidavit... yesterday night, I received instruction that we are not agreeable," the law officer had told the bench.
The Supreme Court is hearing a plea by Rachna Singh, a civil services aspirant, seeking an extra attempt in the UPSC exams for those candidates who had their last attempt in the preliminary exam held in October 2020 and missed it due to COVID-19 pandemic.
The bench, which also comprised Justices B R Gavai and Krishna Murai, had asked the law officer to supply the copy of the affidavit to the counsel of civil services aspirant Rachna who had moved the court with the plea for grant of extra chance to crack the test.
Earlier, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had told the bench that the government was considering the issue of granting one more opportunity to those civil services aspirants who could not appear in their last attempt to crack the UPSC exam.
The top court on September 30, last year, had refused to postpone the UPSC civil services preliminary exam, which was held on October 4, because of the COVID-19 pandemic and floods in several parts of the country.
However, it had directed the Central Government and the Union Public Service Commission to consider granting an extra chance to candidates who otherwise have their last attempt in 2020, with corresponding extension of the upper age-limit.
The bench was then told that a formal decision can be taken by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) only.
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