SC grants relief to 8 civil services aspirants, asks UPSC to issue admit cards for mains exam
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Wednesday came to the rescue of eight civil services aspirants by directing the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to issue admit cards to them for the mains examination scheduled on September 15.
The top court, however, made it clear that the interim relief permitting the aspirants to take up the mains examination will be subject to the final outcome of their petition.
A bench of Justices AS Bopanna and Prashant Kumar Mishra, which was hearing two separate petitions, granted the interim relief to the eight aspirants, who were denied admit cards by the UPSC on the grounds of non-submissions of provisional certificates supporting their qualification and improper certificate for availing EWS quota benefits.
While dealing with the first petition in which provisional certificates were not submitted, the bench said that in view of the fact that the Civil Services Mains Exam is scheduled to be held on September 15, the interest of the petitioners will be affected if they are not allowed to appear for the test.
"Making it subject to the final result of this petition, we direct the respondent (UPSC) to issue the necessary admission ticket to appear for the exam," the bench ordered and allowed Haryana residents Deepanshu and Sushil Kumar to appear in the examination.
Similarly, in the second petition, where the aspirants were denied admit cards by the UPSC owing to an error in their certificate specifying their Economically Weaker Section (EWS) status, the bench asked UPSC to grant admit cards to six aspirants.
During the hearing, advocate Gaurav Agrawal, who argued on behalf of both sets of aspirants said that in the case of Deepanshu and Kumar, there was delay in furnishing the certificate as academic session was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"As a result they could not submit their certificates in time to the UPSC," he said, adding that the results of their final year examination of their graduation course were declared by their respective universities after the cut-off date July 19, 2023, fixed by the UPSC.
Agrawal said that in the second set of aspirants, the UPSC pointed out that there were minor errors such as overwriting in their EWS certificate and hence, denied them the admit card for the mains examination. The issue happened due to mistake committed by tehsildar, the advocate said.
"The error was however rectified by these aspirants," he said but the candidature of these aspirants were cancelled by the UPSC.
Both sets of aspirants have cleared the prelims examination. They approached the top court as they could have lost an attempt for clearing the civil service examination, Agrawal told the bench.
He added that according to rules, whether a candidate appears for the mains examination or not, his attempt is counted.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
