The Allahabad High Court has expressed dissatisfaction with the Centre’s explanation on the “extra chance” given this year to those civil services aspirants who did not appear in the exams in 2011 on account of the agitation against CSAT which is said to have put Hindi medium candidates at a disadvantage.
A division bench comprising justices Arun Tandon and Ashwani Kumar Mishra yesterday directed the Secretary of the Department of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions to file an affidavit by the next date of hearing on October 01 explaining “what is the reasonable basis for such additional benefits being conferred upon the candidates”.
It remarked that instructions received from Ministry of Personnel, PG and Pensions, government of India, produced before it by Ashok Mehta, Additional Solicitor General, “are not to the satisfaction of the court”.
“How can a candidate, who had taken an attempt in the year 2011… be said to be worse off than the one who had not undertaken said attempt in the year 2011 despite being eligible both in respect of number of attempts as well as in the matter of age… why should he (a candidate who had appeared in 2011 exams) also not be permitted a similar treatment respect of one additional attempt under the examinations of 2015,” the court asked.
The order was passed on a writ petition filed by Animesh Singh who had challenged the grant of extra chance vide a Central Administrative Tribunal order ahead of the Preliminary examinations for the Civil Services which were held on August 23.
The petitioner had questioned the rationale behind the move pointing out that many of the candidates who did not appear in the 2011 examinations, may have tried their luck in the subsequent years.
The petitioner had also contended that the extra chance was being given to only those who did not appear in 2011 though the agitation against Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT) has been underway since 2010.
( Source – PTI )
