UPSC prelims 2020 exam will not be postponed says Supreme Court

New Delhi, Sep 30: The Supreme Court has refused to order postponement of the UPSC exams.

A Bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and Sanjiv Khanna delivered its verdict on a batch of petitions that sought for the postponement of the Civil Services (Prelims) Examination 2020 scheduled for October 4. On the last date of hearing the court had asked the UPSC to file an affidavit.

The plea had been filed by the UPSC civil service aspirants, who are seeking postponement of the exams scheduled to be held from October 4 in view of the pandemic.

The petitioners said that holding the exams at such a time would pose a great risk to health and safety of the candidates.

The UPSC told the Supreme Court that it has already incurred expenses of over Rs 50 crore to conduct the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2020 scheduled for October 4.

Any further delay will result in a huge loss to the public exchequer, the UPSC said in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court.

"The Commission has incurred an expense of Rs 50.39 crore which includes committed liabilities of around Rs 16.09 crore in order to facilitate logistical preparation for conduct of the examination and postponement of the examination would cause a huge loss to the public exchequer," stated the affidavit. Several exams conducted by the Commission have already been postponed, but the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination (CSP) 2020 was crucial to fill up vacant posts in government services, the affidavit stated.

"Any disruption at any stage has the potential of upsetting the entire (examination) cycle not only for once but likely to have a cascading effect in future as well. Over 1.058 million candidates have applied for the examination, of which 0.687 million candidates (nearly 65%) have downloaded the e-Admit card as on Monday. The examination will be held at 2,569 venues across 72 exam centres. All preparatory measures have been taken and the examination material, attendance sheets, list of invigilators and supervisors has already been dispatched to the respective exam venues, the affidavit stated. The Cabinet Secretary as well as UPSC Secretary have instructed all Chief Secretaries to provide transport for candidates on October 3 and 4 so they can give the examination without any hassle. Jammers have been installed at all examination centres, UPSC also said.