Civil Services Exam: Giving One More Chance Will Be Fair
Yogendra is freelance writer
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By Yogendra
First publised on 2021-01-29 09:45:17
About the Author
Yogendra is freelance writer
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The Centre came in for a rebuke in the Supreme Court for filing an affidavit by an Under-Secreatry. The matter was about giving those civil services aspirants who had exhausted all their chances due to forced appearance in the Civil Services Examinations (CSE) in this year of the pandemic related disruptions. The aspirants had claimed that they were forced to appear in the exams due to lack of clarity from the government. The government had earlier submitted that it would consider this request and was not adopting an "adversarial stance". The Court said that "It says nothing about at whose level this decision has been taken. It should have been taken at the highest level. It is a policy decision and a one-time exemption. It's a routine Affidavit. Is this the way to do it? You should present something that is presentable. File this properly".
More than the government department, its legal officers are failing the government. This is not the first time that a judge rebuked the government for not being proper in filing affidavits. Any affidavit filed before the Supreme Court needs t be signed by the senior most officer in the department or his deputy. Since the judges rely on the affidavits to pass orders, they need to be aware of who has taken the decision and why. An affidavit that fails to disclose the reasons will not help the ends of justice and is likely to anger judges and prolong the matter.
On the matter at hand, the government needs to consider it with the seriousness it deserves. The extraordinary situation created by the pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns meant that examinees were not able to prepare for the tough examinations. Their request for an extra chance is valid and reasonable. The government must consider it favorably. Those examinees who have exhausted all their chances for appearing in the CSE by being forced to appear for it unprepared or under-prepared this year must be given one more chance.
