The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected giving another chance to Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) aspirants whose last attempt to crack the civil services exam was dampened by COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in October last year.
“We have dismissed the writ petition,” Justice Ajay Rastogi, one of the judges on the Bench led by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar, announced soon after the court assembled for a virtual session.
Justice Rastogi, however, appreciated the efforts made by advocate Anushree Prashit Kapadia, the aspirants’ lawyer.
“Ms. Kapadia, you argued well. You were very clear on the facts,” Justice Rastogi told her.
The government had objected to giving the candidates another chance, saying a relaxation in age or the number of attempts would trigger a never-ending cycle of requests for similar relief, with every candidate asking for an extra chance. The law officer argued that hardships during the pandemic was uniformly felt by all.
Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju had said policy remained in the realm of the government. It was again policy which decided the age and the number of attempts allowed to candidates. The judiciary should intervene only if the government policy was “arbitrary, uninformed and capricious”.
On the other hand, a battery of lawyers appearing for over 100 aspirants, including senior advocate Shyam Divan, had fervently argued about the “overwhelming circumstances of the pandemic which impacted society”. He said libraries and coaching centres were closed during the most of last year.
The case hearings had seen a roller-coaster ride with the government initially refusing leeway but later, on the gentle prodding of the court, proposed to give another chance to last-attempters provided they had not crossed the age barrier yet.
On February 5, the government side said it was “agreeable” to give an “ex-gratia, one-time, restricted relaxation” to UPSC candidates who had appeared in the Civil Services Exam-2020 as their “last permissible attempt”.
However, the case took another turn when the aspirants sought a relaxation in age too, prompting the government to revert to its initial stand. The aspirants had argued that SC/ST candidates among them would be handicapped if the age barrier was raised.
The Supreme Court had initially asked the government not to be “rigid” about giving another chance to age-barred UPSC aspirants, but went on to hear the case on merits when Mr. Raju refused to concede any further ground.