Andhra Pradesh High Court puts APPSC Group-1 interviews on hold

VIJAYAWADA:  The AP High Court on Wednesday ordered that the Group-1 interview process be suspended for four weeks. Notices to the effect were sent to secretaries of Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) and General Administration Department (GAD). The APPSC was scheduled to start the Group-1 interview process from Thursday.

Counsel for petitioners, Yogesh Thandava said that judge DVSS Somayajulu issued the interim orders after hearing petitions challenging the digital evaluation of Group-1 Mains exam answer scripts.

Counsel for the petitioners argued that the examinations were not conducted as per the rules and the applicants were told about digital valuation at the last minute. They said that evaluation of English medium papers of Group-1 exams was held in other States and it had caused severe injustice to the aspirants.

Government’s counsel told the court that the Group-1 tests were conducted as per rules and there was no need to inform in advance about the evaluation. After hearing both sides of the arguments, the court on Tuesday reserved its judgment. On Wednesday, judge DVSS Somayajulu issued the interim orders, thereby putting the whole process in limbo for another four weeks.

Around 326 candidates have been short-listed for the interview based on the marks obtained by them in the main written exam which was held from December 14 to December 20, last year. A total of 169 vacancies in various departments are to be filled through this exam.