Indian Public Service aspirants who have been denied an extra opportunity to take the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination in 2021 because of COVID-19 disruption are refusing to give up the fight, taking their case to the Supreme Court.
The petitioners are calling on the court to direct the UPSC to extend them an additional attempt to appear in the examination.
Gopal Sankaranarayanan, for the petitioners, said the UPSC examination was held in the second week of January, and out of the three petitioners, two of them had appeared in some papers before they tested positive for COVID-19.
He said the petitioners could have suppressed that information, but they did not.
“The petitioners could not take or continue with the examination after testing positive for COVID-19 owing to the restrictions imposed under the strict quarantine guidelines of the Government,” Mr Sankaranarayanan (pictured) said.
“Also, there was an absence of any UPSC policy which could provide arrangements for such petitioners who were COVID-positive during the span of the examination or before it.”
He said the petitioners were seeking a direction to the UPSC to extend them an additional attempt to appear for the examination or make some arrangement to appear in the rest of papers which the petitioners could not take before the results were finalised.
New Delhi, 2 March 2022
