Supreme Court withdraws plea challenging UPSC’s answer key decision

New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has dismissed a plea challenging the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC)’s decision to publish the answer key for the Preliminary Civil Services Examination 2023 only after the final result declaration. The bench, consisting of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Sanjay Karol, allowed the withdrawal of the plea in light of a similar case pending before the Delhi High Court.

The High Court had reserved its judgment on the admissibility of a similar plea filed by 17 civil service aspirants on August 2.

The plea in question sought a directive to the UPSC for immediate publication of the answer key. It argued that the decision to withhold the answer key from candidates was “arbitrary.”

The High Court had summoned UPSC to present its preliminary objections to the plea. During the proceedings, it was noted that the two other demands in the petition – challenging the preliminary examination and advocating for a re-conduction of the exam – were not being pursued by the petitioners.

A statement from the UPSC, issued on June 12, informed candidates that “marks, cut-off marks, and answer keys of CS (P) Examination, 2023 will be uploaded… only after the entire process of the Civil Services Examination 2023 is over, that is, after the declaration of final result.”