AP HC nullifies Group-1 Mains exam (2018)

Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh High Court has directed the APPSC to conduct the Group-1 (Mains) examination afresh, value the answer scripts as per norms and complete the selection process within six months.

A single judge bench headed by Justice Nimmagadda Venkateswarlu delivered the verdict here on Wednesday. He ruled that the conduct of second and third valuation of Group-1 (Mains) examination for the notification No.27/2018 was illegal, irregular, arbitrary and violative of Rule 3(IX) of the APPSC Rules.

The court set aside the impugned list of eligible candidates dated May 26, 2022. The court directed APPSC to conduct Group-1 (Mains) examinations afresh for notification No. 27/2018, value the papers strictly in accordance with the APPSC rules, give at least two months’ time to the candidates and complete the process and selection within six months.

However, the APPSC said it would appeal against the HC order. “There is no need for cancellation of the Mains examination and the list of selected candidates when the issue in dispute was evaluation of answer scripts,” it claimed.

APPSC chairman Gautam Sawang said, “We are going with an appeal in the High Court against the single judge bench order.”

Meanwhile, the AP government in a statement advised the selected candidates not to get worried over the HC order. It assured them that efforts to safeguard their interests would be made, as they were employed in various capacities.

The APPSC issued a notification for conduct of Group-I (Mains) exams in 2018. After conducting the preliminary exams in May 2019, it held the Mains in December 2020. In the wake of the prevalence of Covid-19, it carried out digital evaluation of Group-I (Mains) answer scripts to avoid manual evaluation by running a camp and appointing several professors, associate/ assistant professors and lecturers to do this.

It declared the results. However, some candidates moved the HC, claiming that the APPSC did not mention in its notification about digital evaluation of the answer scripts and did so in violation of norms.

Accordingly, the HC directed the APPSC to conduct manual evaluation of the answer scripts in October 2021.

Though there was an attempt to conduct the manual evaluation by holding a camp near Haailand in Guntur district, it was not held for some reasons.

Subsequently, the APPSC held the manual evaluation by holding the camps mainly in the office complex accommodating the APPSC itself by roping in nearly 162 faculty members in March, 2022 and declared the results in May, 2022 and conducted the interviews.

As many as 167 posts were filled by issuing appointment orders. The candidates joined the service in various capacities and started working.

Though the court completed hearing the arguments in the case in August 2022 itself, it delivered the verdict after seven months and also nullified the entire process of conduct of examination when the dispute was related to evaluation of answer scripts.

This, at a time when the elections are just a call away in AP.

Moreover, the APPSC successfully conducted one more Group-1 exam notified on September 2022; and for another Group-1 exam notified in December 2023, the preliminary exam is to be held on March 17.