UPSC aspirants who missed exam due to Covid seek additional attempt
New Delhi, March 7: The Supreme Court on Monday stated that it will hear the plea filed by UPSC aspirants, who had missed their Civil Services exam due to COVID-19 and sought an additional attempt, on March 21.
A bench of justices AM Khanwilkar and CT Ravikumar had adjourned the matter after Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) counsel sought time to seek instruction on the matter and has asked the parties concerned to file an affidavit on the plea.
The apex court was hearing the petition filed by UPSC aspirants seeking to extend the benefit of an additional/extra attempt. Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan represented the petitioners and the petition was filed by three UPSC aspirants by advocate Shashank Singh.
The petitioners urged UPSC to issue appropriate instructions to extend the benefit of additional/extra attempts and to make arrangements for the petitioners to appear in the remaining papers that they were unable to take before the publication of the Civil Service Mains Examination 2021 results.
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The petitioners stated that they are UPSC aspirants who passed the UPSC-2021 Prelims exam and were eligible to take the UPSC Mains exam, which was set to take place from January 7 to 16, 2022.
They asserted that they were unable to sit for the UPSC Mains examination because they were Covid positive and because of the government's rigorous quarantine guidelines.
Furthermore, there was no UPSC policy in place to make arrangements for petitioners who tested positive for Covid during the Mains examination or before it.
"Absence of policy and no arrangement to accommodate Covid positive petitioners to appear in the Civil Service Mains examination 2021 have violated the right of the Petitioners under Article 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India," the petitioner contended.
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-PTC News
