The Delhi High Court has denied the request of a Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) aspirant to participate in the upcoming Civil Services (Main) Examination. This decision followed the cancellation of her candidacy due to the submission of an incorrect photograph and signature in her application form.

The petitioner, who successfully passed the Preliminary Examination, claimed that she accidentally submitted her brother's photo and signature instead of her own in the application form. She contested the cancellation of her candidature before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT). Unfortunately, CAT denied her request for temporary relief, which would have allowed her to participate in the Main Examination.

The bench of Justices V. Kameswar Rao and Anoop Kumar Mendiratta upheld the Tribunal's decision. They noted that candidates are provided with a seven-day window after the application window closes to rectify any errors in their application forms. In this case, the petitioner did not take advantage of this opportunity. The court also pointed out that the petitioner approached the Tribunal approximately 15 days after her candidature was rejected.

The UPSC stated in the court that, the candidates were supposed to preview their application forms before uploading them. Only after confirming the details were, they expected to proceed with the upload. The UPSC also highlighted that the petitioner had a seven-day window to correct any errors in her filled application form, which she did not utilize. Consequently, the UPSC contended that there was no need to grant any equitable relief to the petitioner based on these circumstances. The UPSC also argued that out of approximately six lakh candidates who had taken the preliminary examination, around ten applications were rejected due to discrepancies in photographs and signatures, including the petitioner's case, therefore granting relief to the petitioner would be a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution of India, which ensures equality before the law, as it would provide a benefit to the petitioner that was not granted to other candidates facing similar issues.

The Commission also pointed out that the Examination Centre's decision to permit the petitioner to take the preliminary examination based on an undertaking was entirely unauthorized, as clear instructions had been issued to the examination centres for not allowing any candidate to take the examination if there was any discrepancy between the photograph and signature and the physical appearance of the candidate.

The High Court noted that the Tribunal had taken into account the statutory nature of the instructions issued by the UPSC. These instructions were based on the Civil Services Examination Rules of 2023, which were obligatory and had to be consistently applied and followed.

The court stated that, “we also note the finding of the Tribunal that Note 6(1)(e) of the Examination Rules stipulates uploading irrelevant photo/signature in place of the actual photo/signature would result in disqualification by the UPSC for the examination held under the said Rules. Further, we have been informed that the Main Examination is scheduled to take place tomorrow at 09:00 AM. The submission of Mr. Kaushik that any directions given, permitting the petitioner to appear in the examination shall entail issuance of admit card, determining an examination centre, preparing her question paper and answer sheet, which cannot be organized in such a short time, is appealing. We reiterate that the petitioner had taken almost 15 days to approach the Tribunal and even the phone call made by the petitioner initially on the receipt of the email from the UPSC was after a period of 18 days which surely suggest, the petitioner should have been more proactive in seeking her remedy.”

In line with its findings, the Court dismissed the writ petition, thereby affirming the decision of the Tribunal.

Case name: Dikshika Meena Vs Union Public Services Commission and Ors. W.P.(C)-12111/2023 2023: DHC:6649-DB