BPSC Exam Row: SC Refuses to Hear Plea Over Alleged Irregularities, Asks Petitioner To Move HC – News18

Last Updated:January 07, 2025, 16:35 IST

BPSC exam row: A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justices Sanjay Kumar and K V Viswanathan asked petitioner to move the Patna High Court with the grievances

The Supreme Court has refused to entertain a plea over alleged irregularities in the BPSC 70th CCE prelims exam. The petition mentioned that there has been rigging in the 70th examination and hence it should be cancelled and conducted again.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justices Sanjay Kumar and K V Viswanathan asked the petitioner to move the Patna High Court with the grievances. “We are asking you to go to the Patna High Court,” the CJI said.

“We understand your sentiments attached…but we cannot be the court of first instance,” the CJI further said, adding that, “and we feel it will be appropriate and more expeditious that the petitioner approached the Patna High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution.”

BPSC Exam Row: What Counsel Said?

The counsel appearing for the petitioner, Anand Legal Aid Forum Trust, urged the top court to consider the plea. He said that the place where police led a charge with batons on peaceful protestors was near the Patna High Court chief justice’s official residence and a suo-motu note could have been taken.

The Counsel, Abhijit Anand said, “The entire nation has seen how the Bihar Police has brutally lathy charged the protestors” that malpractices have now “become a routine, the manner in which paper leaks are happening,” reported LiveLaw.

What Is The BPSC Exam Protests All About?

The exam was held on December 13, 2024. However, chaos broke out at the Bapu Pariksha Parisar exam centre in Patna due to an alleged 45-minute delay in distributing the exam papers. CCTV footage showed people tearing question papers and grabbing exam sheets from other candidates during the test.

Hours after the chaos unfolded at the BPSC exam centre in Patna, aspirants sat in protest against the BPSC demanding the cancellation of the exam and urging for re-examination. Several students announced a hunger strike. Bihar police had allegedly used force to control the protestors.

The re-examination was held on January 4, 2025, at about 22 examination centres in Patna. Of the 12,012 candidates eligible for the retest, a total of 8,111 downloaded their admit cards, and 5,943 appeared for the examination.

Meanwhile, Jan Suraaj Party chief Prashant Kishor, who has been on an indefinite hunger strike at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan seeking cancellation of the exam, was arrested by the Bihar Police in the early hours of Monday. According to officials, he was taken to AIIMS in an ambulance, however, he has refused treatment and will continue his fast. The police have moved him out of Patna towards the Naubatpur area and are reportedly taking him to an undisclosed location. His vanity van was also seized.

— with PTI inputs