New Delhi, Sep 24 (IANS): A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court, seeking postponement of the Civil Services Examination 2020, slated on October 4, against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic and heavy rain and floods in several parts of the country.
Listing the matter for hearing on September 28, a bench of Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and Sanjiv Khanna on Thursday said: "Liberty is granted to serve advance copy on the Standing Counsel for the Union Public Service Commission as well as on the Standing Counsel for the Central Agency representing Union of India through email/online."
The plea, filed by Vasireddy Govardhana Sai Prakash and others through advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava, sought that the Civil Services exam should be postponed for two to three months, as Covid-19 cases are peaking currently and the curve may flatten in this time period.
The petitioners also cited incessant rains disrupting daily life in many parts of the country.
The plea contended that the exam, being a recruitment examination, is altogether different from an academic examination and thus in the event of its postponement, there would not be any question of delay or loss of any academic session.
"In the instant case, about 6 lakh aspirants (including the petitioners herein) are likely to appear in the captioned Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, which is a seven hours offline examination, in very few centres at 72 cities across India. Meanwhile, Covid-19 cases are increasing in India at an alarming rate of more than 80,000 cases per day," said the plea.
The plea argued that the biggest sufferers of the conducting the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2020, on October 4, will be the students belonging to the middle class or lower middle class.
"The privileged may still appear in these exams, without worrying about transport, accommodation, or other expenses. However, the under-privileged students will be forced to suffer utmost injustice and deprivations," the petitioners contended.
The plea said the decision of the UPSC to conduct the exam, in this current scenario, violates the rights of the petitioners and those similarly situated, under Article 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution.