• The Centre told the Supreme Court on February 5 that it is agreeable to give an extra chance as a one-time relaxation to UPSC civil service aspirants, who had appeared in their last attempt in the 2020 exam amid the COVID-19 pandemic and are otherwise not age-barred.

What is the case about?

• The bench is hearing a plea seeking grant of one more chance in the UPSC’s Civil Services Exam to those aspirants who could not appear in their last attempt in 2020 due to the pandemic.

• On February 1, the Centre had told the top court that it cannot grant an extra chance to civil services aspirants who could not appear or prepare well for their last attempt in the UPSC Civil Service Exam in 2020 due to the pandemic, while reiterating that it would amount to extending differential treatment to similarly placed candidates.

• However, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had sought time to discuss the issue once again.

• The Centre had furnished a chart in the apex court giving details of relaxation given by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in Civil Services Exams since its inception and had said that in 1979, 1992 and 2015 relaxations were given to the candidates due to change in patterns of examination.

• In its affidavit filed earlier in the top court, the Centre had said the contention by the petitioners that their preparation was hampered due to the stress caused by the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic does not hold weight as the UPSC had already given extra time to the candidates by postponing the Civil Service (Preliminary) Examination from May 31, 2020 to October 4, 2020.

• The Centre had said 4,86,952 candidates appeared in the October 4, last year examination and the UPSC had left no stone unturned in their pursuit to accommodate for the means and interests of the candidates.

• The SC bench had observed that one-time relaxation would benefit over 3,300 students without even increasing the age-limit.

Centre agrees for one-time relaxation with certain conditions

• Relaxation, only to the extent of providing one extra attempt for Civil Service Examination, specifically limited to CSE-2021, may be granted to only those candidates who appeared for CSE-2020 as their last permissible attempt and are otherwise not age-barred from appearing in CSE-2021.

• This relaxation for the candidates and to the extent as prescribed above, shall be a one-time relaxation only and shall apply only for appearing in CSE-2021 and shall not be treated as a precedent.

• The Centre said that no relaxation shall be granted for CSE-2021 to those candidates who have not exhausted their permissible number of attempts or to those who are otherwise age-barred from appearing in CSE-2021 as per the prescribed age limits of different categories, or to any other candidate for any other reason whatsoever.

• The Supreme Court said it would hear the matter on February 8.

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