Supreme Court Appreciates UPSC Decision To Publish Answer Keys After Civil Service Preliminary Exams

The Supreme Court today(October 14) recorded its satisfaction with the decision taken by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to publish the answer keys of the Civil Services Preliminary Examination soon after the test is conducted. The policy shift was revealed in a recent affidavit filed by the UPSC in response to a writ petition seeking measures to improve transparency in the Civil Services Examination process. As for the relief of the petitioners, the Court disposed of the matter, giving them liberty to approach the concerned High Court.At the outset, a bench comprising Justice PS Narasimha and Justice AS Chandurkar appreciated the UPSC for its decision. The bench also appreciated Amicus Curiae Senior Advocate Jaideep Gupta, who put forth the proposal that the UPSC should publish the answer keys soon after the preliminary exams.Justice Narasimha said : "There is news we read somewhere, the moment we read somewhere in the newspaper, we were speaking about you[amicus Jaideep Gupta's proposal]. Your proposal was excellent- participatory adversarialism."Justice Narasimha said that in such cases, while seeking relief is one thing, the development of law is the main aspect.The Court was referring to the proposal filed by Senior Advocate and amicus Jaideep Gupta, assisted by his junior Advocate Pranjal Kishore, which led to the policy shift. They had suggested that the UPSC should publish a provisional answer key the next day of the preliminary examination. In an affidavit filed on May 15, the UPSC opposed this suggestion, saying that it would be "counter-productive" and "would lead to uncertainty and delay in the finalisation of the exam." However, in a subsequent affidavit filed in September, they changed their stand and agreed to publish the answer keys.Currently, UPSC releases the answer keys only after the entire examination cycle is completed, following the declaration of final results. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioners, submitted that if the questions are incorrect, the students will have to come to the Court. He added that this is what happened to the present petitioners- because of wrong questions, they lost many years. He requested that petitioners may be given another chance to appear.In this regard, Gupta submitted that his proposal suggests that if any answer is wrong after the final answers are published and if it is found to be incorrect, the Court should mould relief in a manner which does not affect the entire process. This can be done by giving them a chance to appear for the mains examination the following year.It was pointed out that the UPSC hasn't agreed to this proposal. The UPSC's Counsel said that UPSC is only an examination conducting body, and the Rules are framed by the Department of Personnel & Training. Although the UPSC Counsel suggested that the petitioners may be sent to the Central Administrative Tribunal, the Court allowed them to approach the High Court.The Court also allowed the petitioners to make simultaneous representation. About the policy shiftAfter the release of the provisional answer keys, representations/objections will be invited from the candidates who appeared in the exam. Each representation/objection should be supported by at least three authoritative sources. The provisional answer key, as well as the representations/objections, will be placed before a panel of experts on the concerned subject. The experts' panel will finalise the answer keys, which will be the basis for the declaration of results. The final answer keys will be published after the declaration of the final results.The UPSC said that the decision will be implemented expeditiously. The Commission added that this decision will address the grievances raised by the petitioner.The writ petition was filed in 2024, challenging the UPSC's practice of publishing the marks, cut-off marks and answer keys of CS(P) examination, “only” after the entire process of Civil Services Examination is over.Case Details: HIMANSHU KUMAR Vs THE UNION OF INDIA|W.P.(C) No. 118/2024 Diary No. 5468 / 2024Senior Advocate Devadatt Kamat and Advocates Rajesh G. Inamdar and Shashwat Anand, appeared for 28 CSE 2025 Prelims candidates in the connected matter.Click Here To Read/Download Order

Supreme Court Appreciates UPSC Decision To Publish Answer Keys After Civil Service Preliminary Exams

Gursimran Kaur Bakshi

Tags