UPSC Civil Services: Delhi High Court agrees to hear plea seeking disclosure of prelims answer key

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday agreed to hear the plea seeking disclosure of the answer key for the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Services Preliminary Examination, 2023 before the declaration of the final results..Justice Chandra Dhari Singh noted that the petitioners, who could not qualify in the prelims, were not challenging the examination process but were making a "mere request" to disclose the answer key before the completion of the entire process..The Court has overruled a preliminary objection by the UPSC’s counsel regarding the maintainability of the petition. The UPSC had contended that since the issue related to appointments and recruitment, it should be heard by the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) and not the High Court. The High Court, however, opined that the CAT cannot be said to have exclusive jurisdiction to entertain a petition in this regard. The Court added that the prayers made by the petitioners may essentially entail the adjudication of "legal and fundamental rights" of the candidates, including legitimate expectations and the right to know. "In any case where the enforcement and protection of fundamental rights or any rights ... is sought, this Court cannot look the other way," Justice Singh said. .The Court further opined that the merely seeking answer key would not amount to any interference in the process of recruitment. It, therefore, proceeded to hold that the petition was maintainable before the High Court."There is no hurdle in adjudicating the instant petition. Accordingly, the petition is admitted," the Court ordered. However, the Court also said that the observations made by it shall have no impact on any other proceedings before any other court. The Court had reserved its verdict on the maintainability of the petition on August 2. It has now listed the case for hearing on merits on September 26.A detailed order is awaited..The petition had been filed by 17 civil services aspirants challenging a June 12, 2023 press release issued by the UPSC. The plea initially demanded quashing of the prelims exams and a re-conduct of the same. However, those prayers were later dropped and the plea was limited to seeking the publication of the answer key before the declaration of results.Responding to the UPSC's objections on the maintainability of the petition, the petitioners added that they were not seeking recruitment. The petitioners further submitted that since the recruitment has not happened as of yet, the CAT would not have jurisdiction over the matter..Advocates Saurav Agrawal, Rajeev Kumar Dubey, Ashish Tiwari and Sahib Patel represented the petitioner candidates. UPSC was represented through advocates Naresh Kaushik and Shubham Dwivedi. Central Government Standing Counsel (CGSC) Arunima Dwivedi along with advocates Aakash Pathak and Pinky Pawar appeared for Union of India. .[Read Judgement]