Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) argued in the Supreme Court today that the postponement of the Civil Services exam is not possible as it would hurt the examination process, reports Times of India.
The Court asked the Commission to file an affidavit by tomorrow detailing the reasons why a postponement was not possible. The Court will hear on the matter on September 30, adds the report.
Advocate Naresh Kaushik who was representing UPSC said today at the court that the issue of postponement was considered and it was realised that any further postponement would hurt the examination process.
The plea for the postponement was filed last week in which the petitioner had urged to postpone the exam by 2 or 3 months due to the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic and flood situation across the country.
The petition by Vasireddy Govardhana Sai Prakash and others said that the exam amid such the pandemic and flooding situation violates the rights of the candidates under Article 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution to practice their chosen profession/occupation of serving the public.
The petitioner also said that the conduct of the Civil Services exam is different than the conduct of academic exams as there is no question of loss of academic year. SC had previously given green light for the conduct of NEET UG and JEE exam in the month of September.
The petitioner also said that the Commission has not increased the number of exam centre which will result in many candidates needing to travel 300-400 kilometres to give the exam. The low number of centres will increase the probability of candidates getting infected.
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