The Supreme Court today asked the Union Government to consider plea, giving an extra-chance to aspirants of Civil services Mains exams who could not appear for it in January 2022 due to COVID-related problems.
The court also directed the Centre to consider the representation afresh and take appropriate decision within two weeks made by the petitioners and similarly placed persons on the basis of the recommendations made by the Parliamentary committee in its report dated 24th March 2022.
The parliamentary committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice,para 4.16- The Committee is of the opinion that COVID-19 has caused untold agony and insurmountable sufferings to many. The whole of India had come to a standstill, lives and livelihoods got disrupted and the student community was also adversely affected. Keeping in view the hardships faced by the student community during the first and second COVID waves, the Committee recommends the Government to change its mind and sympathetically consider the demand of CSE aspirants and grant an extra attempt with corresponding age relaxation to all candidates.
On the previous occasion, the court had directed UPSC to specify the number of such similar cases .On that, Mr Bhushan assured the court that cases such as this,the petitioners would be very few as the first requirement is to clear the preliminary exam, then you have to have proof of having had covid during the middle of the main examination.
Also Read: Chirag Paswan eviction: Delhi HC refuses to interfere with Centre’s decision
A three member bench of Justice AM Khanwilkar, Justice AS Oka and Justice CT Ravikumar said that
” It is the case of the petitioners and intervenors that they have cleared preliminary examination but could not appear in the final examination due to being infected by COVID.This claim is supported by medical certificate.They have made presentations but have been rejected. Now they have relied on a
Parliamentary Committee Report dated 24.03.2022 ….In light of the recommendation we dispose of the petition and application with the direction to appropriate authority to examine the representation within a period of two weeks. Having regard to the discretion bestowed in the authority under the Regulations…let the authority take a decision”.