"Make a choice, can't defer exams:" Supreme Court dismisses plea seeking rescheduling of judicial services exams in 3 States

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea seeking rescheduling of three State judicial services exams whose dates were clashing with each other [Amit Kumar Kohli v. Rajasthan High Court and ors]..A Bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and MM Sundresh observed that filling up of judicial vacancies is necessary, and asked the petitioner to make a choice between the State judiciary exams he wished to appear for..The petitioner wished to take the judicial service exams of Rajasthan, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. The preliminary exam dates for the Madhya Pradesh exam clashed with the main exams of the other two states.The respondents had not acted on his representations to reschedule the exams, which is violative of his fundamental rights and has resulted in a 'sense of doom', the plea contended. The plea also prayed for an ex-parte ad-interim order directing the rescheduling as sought. It relied on a Supreme Court order from earlier this year that had entertained and accepted the prayers in a matter where the dates of the Delhi and Haryana judicial services exams were clashing. The dates as of now violate the right to opportunity of the petitioner and other similarly-placed aspirants from Hindi-speaking states at a time when such exams are being held for the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the plea submitted.Avenues for public-sector employment are few in the country at present and lack of relief would mean the petitioner and others like him would soon be at the risk of being over-age to apply for such exams in future, the petitioner contended. "...the rule of prudence demands that when the unemployment rate in India is rising sharply the state must provide more and more opportunities to the youth in this country for the public employment but in the case of the present petitioner, state has chosen to obstruct the opportunity," the plea filed through Advocate Vivek Singh stated.