The Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) has agreed to release the provisional answer key soon after the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examinations instead of the current practice of waiting till the end of the entire examination process. The Commission said this in a counter-affidavit filed before the Supreme Court in response to a petition that had challenged the practice. The court had earlier appointed senior advocate Jaideep Gupta as amicus curiae in the matter and advocate Pranjal Kishore to assist him. The amicus had suggested that “a provisional answer key to the preliminary examination should be published a day after the examination is held”. In an affidavit filed on May 13, the Commission said that the suggestion, if implemented, was “likely to be counter-productive” and would lead to “uncertainty and delay in the finalisation of the exam…”. However, in a fresh affidavit filed on September 20, the Commission said that “during the pendency of writ petition, UPSC has deliberated upon various factors including the suggestion of Ld' Amicus appointed by this Hon'ble Court to assist in the matter. That as a consequence of comprehensive deliberation and considering the pious role assigned to the UPSC as a constitutional body, the Commission has arrived at a conscious and well-considered decision as under”, including “publishing the provisional answer key, after the preliminary examination is conducted”. It added that representations or objections will be sought from the candidates who appeared in the examination. “Each such representation/objection should be supported by three authoritative sources. Objections which are not so supported should be rejected at the threshold. However, the Commission will decide whether the sources produced are authoritative or not,” the UPSC further stated. The Commission said that “the provisional answer key and objections/representations received from candidates on question paper as well as answer keys shall be placed before set/team of experts of the concerned discipline/subject, who shall undertake an in-depth consideration of all the aspects and will finalise the answer keys”. It said that an answer key finalised in such a manner will constitute the basis of the declaration of the results of the UPSC Prelims. “The final answer key shall be published after declaration of the final results,” the Commission said, adding it “desires to start following the modalities…as expeditiously as possible”. It added that the “the decision…is considered to be an effective and adequate redressal of the grievances raised in the petition and to enhance the level of transparency in the functioning of the UPSC and also to further the cause of public interest”. What the petition stated The petition filed through advocates Saroj Tripathi and Rajeev Dubey contended that “there is neither any reason nor rhyme to publish the marks, cut-off marks and answer keys of CS(P) examination, “only” after entire process of Civil Services Examination is over, except only with sole motive to frustrate of the cause of action, irrespective of howsoever genuine it might be, of the unsuccessful candidates to seek any effective remedy.” The petition noted that disclosing the answer keys, cut-off scores, and candidates' marks would allow aspirants to pursue ‘effective’ remedies against wrong and incorrect evaluations, based on rational and demonstrable grounds as set out in the aforesaid judgement. “…they would also have right to know that the candidates who were shortlisted, had in fact more marks and hence more deserving to be selected,” the petition added. “None of these, could be possible until and unless the respondent UPSC discloses the correct answer keys, which is the basis of evaluation, the minimum cut-off marks, which is the basis for shortlisting the candidates, and marks obtained by candidates to identify if they meet minimum cut-off or not. This shall also equip the candidates to be well informed and perhaps better prepared for subsequent attempts in examinations,” it further stated.
