THE JHARKHAND STORY DESK
New Delhi, Oct 4: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has informed the Supreme Court that it will make the provisional answer key for the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination available soon after the test, instead of waiting until the entire examination cycle concludes.
This move marks a significant shift from the Commission’s previous practice of withholding answer keys, cut-off marks, and scores until the final stage of the recruitment process.
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The decision comes in response to a petition challenging UPSC’s earlier policy. For years, civil service aspirants and transparency advocates have urged the Commission to release answer keys promptly, citing recommendations from Parliamentary Committees and directions from the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), which had repeatedly called for timely disclosure after prelims results. These calls, however, went largely unheeded.
The petition, filed by aspirants Vidushi Pandey and Himanshu Kumar, argued that delayed access to answer keys and cut-off scores placed candidates at a disadvantage.
After a prolonged legal struggle over the past two years, UPSC has now agreed to provide provisional answer keys immediately following the prelims.
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During the hearing, a bench comprising Justices P.S. Narasimha and Manoj Misra appointed senior advocate Jaideep Gupta as amicus curiae to assist the Court. The bench also instructed the petitioners to share a copy of their petition with Gupta for reference.
