In a milestone for UPSC, the Supreme Court has approved the Union Public Service Commission's (UPSC) proposal to publish the preliminary answer keys immediately after the preliminary examination of the civil services. The Supreme Court bench, chaired by Justices PS Narasimha and AS Chandurkar, recently delivered the verdict after extensive deliberations. The court noted that the Commission's new affidavit represented a “conscious and deliberate decision.”
After the exam, the UPSC will now open a window to raise objections and challenge the answer key before finalizing the results. Notably, the court disposed of a batch of petitions challenging the UPSC's previous deferred disclosure policy.
According to the Supreme Court, the revised mechanism effectively addresses the grievances of candidates while bringing the functioning of the UPSC in line with the principles of fairness, accountability and transparency. This monumental change comes after sustained legal efforts by UPSC aspirants Vidushi Pandey and Himanshu Kumar, who lobbied for timely publication of answer scripts.
The two civil services aspirants had approached the Court seeking timely publication of the answer keys, cut-off marks and the scores of the candidates. They argued that withholding these details until the final stages of the exam cycle deprived aspirants of a fair opportunity to evaluate their performance and learn from mistakes.
“We are happy to note that the UPSC has taken a decision in this regard,” PTI quoted the bench as saying.
Representing the petitioners, Kapil Sibal submitted that the pleas were filed due to a “wrong question” and the petitioners have lost so many years.
“As a result of extensive consultations and taking into account the pious role assigned to the UPSC as a constitutional body, the Commission has arrived at a conscious and deliberate decision as follows: (a) to publish the preliminary answer key, after conducting the preliminary investigation,” the UPSC said, PTI reported citing the affidavit filed in the apex court last month.
What has changed?
Once the provisional answer key is published after the UPSC exam, candidates can challenge the answers to any question provided that any objection raised is supported by at least three authoritative sources.
After releasing the tentative answer key and filing objections, a panel of experts on the subject will finalize the answer keys. It is important to note that the final answer keys will be published after the announcement of the final results.
