The Delhi High Court Tuesday ordered the Centre to set up a panel to decide on the nature of the English language test in the preliminary section of Civil Service Examination.
The panel has to be set up in three months and a decision on whether the test is to be qualifying,competitive or both has to be taken within nine months of its creation.
The order came on a plea by retired professor Dinanath Batra,who challenged the change in the exam pattern by the UPSC in 2012. He said the test of English language comprehension skills adversely affects the Hindi- and regional language-speaking candidates in the exam.
Batra in his plea alleged that the new pattern gives more weightage to English language and therefore violates provisions,including the right to equality.
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Chief Justice D Murugesan and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw noted that the test,as qualifying paper,was anomalous as there was already a section on English comprehension as competitive paper.
We are not told the difference in the test of English language in the competitive and the non-competitive segment. If the reason for the change,as said in the counter affidavit of the respondents,is need for knowledge of English language in the globalised environment,is correct,then we dont see the purpose of retaining the qualifying test of English language in the main section, said the court.
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