Title: Siddharth Mishra & Ors. V. UPSC
Introduction
The Delhi High Court urged the Central Administrative Tribunal on Wednesday to rule quickly on a petition seeking a lowering in the cut-off from 33% to 23% for clearing Part II (CSAT) test of the 2023 Civil Services Examination, which was held last month by UPSC.
A vacation bench of Justices C Hari Shankar and Manoj Jain denied temporary relief and dismissed a plea filed by a group of civil service aspirants challenging the Tribunal’s reluctance to give any interim relief.
Facts of the Case
“The Central Administrative Tribunal is requested to rule on OA as soon as possible.” Needless to mention, in conformity with natural justice principles.
“The petition is dismissed,” the court said. The CAT gave notice on the request seeking a decrease in the cut-off on June 9, but declined any temporary relief and scheduled the matter for hearing on July 6. The candidates then petitioned the High Court, claiming that the Tribunal’s case would become infructuous by July 2006. It was requested that the UPSC refrain from acting further on the prelims results announced on June 12.
Courts Analysis and Decision
During hearing, Advocate Saket Jain, who represented the petitioners, read the court the UPSC examination announcement published on February 1 and pointed to the curriculum specified in it. The court, however, stated that the request to freeze the entire test and recruiting process could not be granted. “The Tribunal has not dismissed your case. It has sent you a message about your OA. The case has been rescheduled until July 6, 2006. No judge will grant your request to stay the entire CSE 2023. It is an ex-facie prayer that will not be answered. The Supreme Court has issued several decisions,” the bench stated.
“Even if you are… because a stay of execution is granted not only on a prima facie case and balance of convenience.” it said. Given that even if hundreds of students attend court, the sole focus of convenience can never be on keeping appointments. There have been judgements stating that judges should not look at examination papers.” As Jain argued that he was not addressing the merits of the case and was simply demonstrating why the situation merited temporary relief, Justice Shankar stated orally:
The court subsequently dismissed the lawsuit after Jain asked the court to issue an order instructing the CAT to resolve the dispute as soon as possible. Advocate Naresh Kaushik, who represented UPSC, did not object to the petition.
According to the petition filed with the High Court, the issue impacts lakhs of students across the country. “Because the result for the same was declared on 12.06.2023, it is necessary that this matter be heard as soon as possible,” it stated.
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Written by- Anushka Satwani
