The Telangana High Court on Tuesday expressed disappointment over the manner the Telangana State Public Service Commission had conducted the Group-I preliminary examination.
A Bench of Justices Abhinand Kumar Shavili and Anil Kumar Jukanti, while hearing a writ appeal filed by the TSPSC challenging a single Judge’s order cancelling the Group-I preliminary test held on June 11, expressed displeasure over the TSPSC failing to convene the exam in a foolproof manner despite the first exam being cancelled due to leakage of question papers.
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Justice Abhinand Kumar Shavili noted that TSPSC held the preliminary exam to fill up posts of Group-I cadre after a gap of nearly 20 years. When the exam was held for the first time on October 16, 2022, the TSPSC subjected the candidates to biometric screening. After it was cancelled following allegations of question paper leakage, the Commission conducted the exam again on June 11 this year but did not follow the system of checking candidates’ biometrics giving scope for impersonation.
“Look at the plight of unemployed youth, as the exam was cancelled,” the Judge said. The Judge observed that invigilators did not check the identification details of the candidates properly. Eventually, some candidates moved the High Court and secured an order to get the exam cancelled since rules mentioned in the notification were not followed, the Judge said.
Advocate-General B.S. Prasad contended that no case of impersonation was reported. The biometric screening was not followed when the exam was reconducted on June 11 due to various reasons, he said. Stating that even the Union Public Service Commission was not adopting biometric screening, the A-G told the Bench that the biometric system was not followed a second time due to paucity of time while allowing candidates to enter the exam hall.
Mr. Prasad contended that TSPSC had the power to alter or relax a rule as per paragraphs 13 and 14 of the exam notification. Hence, the biometric screening was not adopted when the test was convened a second time, he said. But the Commission could have issued an addendum stating that biometric screening was being dropped while reconnecting the exam on June 11, Justice Shavili said.
The Bench sought to know from the AG how many exams TSPSC had conducted following the system of biometric screening and what were the difficulties faced by the Commission in following biometric screening method.
The Bench would hear the matter on Wednesday.
