Re-exam for Group-I Mains

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) drew the ire of Supreme Court again on Monday for its goof-up in the Group I examination.

The apex court, while ruling that the Mains examination of 2011 be conducted again, asked the Commission to provide a chance to all those who missed the bus due to flaws in the Key. As per an official report, as many as 209 students could not get a chance to appear for the Mains.

The Supreme Court however advised the Commission that there is no need to provide a chance to nearly 7000 aspirants who have not taken the Mains.

A two-judge bench comprising Justice J Chalameswar and J L Gokhale delivered the ruling on the ‘modification petition’ filed by the APPSC on the judgment delivered on September 7 last year which almost annulled all the merit lists.

The Commission urged the Court to have a relook at the judgment since it was physically impossible to conduct the Mains and interviews again at this juncture. The Commission in its petition reportedly mentioned the process of bifurcation of the State and observed that the issue of appointments should be speeded up in view of the division.

Differing with the views expressed by the Commission, the Bench said that any injustice should be corrected and the Commission must conduct the Mains again. It asked the commission to make a fresh list after deleting six erroneous questions of preliminary examination.

The Commission tried to present a case, saying that only two questions were given wrong answers. Even if six questions were wrong, just 209 candidates may stand benefited, it argued. But the judges did not consider the matrix of mistakes and directed the Commission to conduct the exam again.