Telangana High Court refuses to postpone Group-I preliminary exam

The Division Bench refused to interfere in the prelims exam, scheduled to be held on June 11

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Friday refused to postpone the Group-1 prelims exam. The Division Bench refused to interfere in the prelims exam, scheduled to be held on June 11 (Sunday) and dismissed the appeal requesting its postponement.

The Division Bench comprising Justice Abhinand Kumar Shavili and Justice Namavarapu Rajeshwar Rao refused to interfere with the order of the single-judge bench, which was not inclined to order a stay. The court was dealing with a writ appeal filed by Murlidhar Reddy, a Group-1 aspirant.

---

However, the court informed the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) that the results of Group-1 exams shall be subject to the outcome of the writ petitions pending before the court.

The court considered the fact that more than three lakh applicants are appearing for the examination and if the exam is stalled, it will cause severe setbacks to the applicants.

Harender Pershad, Special GP attached to the office of Advocate General, appeared for the State and submitted his arguments on behalf of the TSPSC. Advocate Sudheer, who appeared for the petitioner, argued for the court’s interference with the previous order on the grounds that the investigation of the TSPSC paper leak case by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) was yet to be completed.

Since the TSPSC employees were arrested for their alleged involvement in the paper leak, the credibility of the TSPSC was in doubt now, and the same TSPSC was conducting fresh Group-1 preliminary exams hurriedly, the petitioner argued. Therefore, the exam should be stayed and conducted by any other agency such as the UPSC, Sudheer said.

The Division Bench, while dismissing the writ appeal, said that stalling the exams was not the solution. It recalled the case of the 2008 DSC discrepancies which went to the Supreme Court and then remanded back to the High Court, which wasted 15 valuable years of the aspirants The High Court allowed the four candidates who were disqualified due to jumbling in the previous prelims to write the exams.

The High Court heard the petitions filed by candidates N Suresh, D Ramesh Kumar, Shamim and Y Sai Sushmita. It stated in its order that the previous prelims have been cancelled and they are being re-conducted, hence the order is being issued to allow them to write the exam.

Meanwhile, a single judge heard the petitions filed to transfer the TSPSC question paper leakage case to the CBI. The SIT was ordered to submit the investigation report.

Advocate General BS Prasad, who is representing TSPSC, said a charge sheet has been filed against the accused. He said the SIT was conducting a thorough investigation and there was no need for a CBI investigation.

After the arguments, the High Court directed the SIT to submit the investigation-level report within three weeks.