Amid NEET Row, Irregularities In UP PCS Judge Exam, 50 Copies Swapped; 3 Officials Suspended

UPPSC has initiated action against 5 officers linked to alleged tampering of answer sheets in the UP Judicial Service Civil Judge (Junior Division) Main Exam 2022.

UP PCS Judicial exam results were announced on August 30, 2023. (Representative Image) (Photo Credit- Pixabay)

Source : Representative Photo/ Pixabay

Another shocking case has emerged amid controversies of paper leaks and irregularities in exams. The Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) has admitted to significant discrepancies in the main examination for the recruitment of Civil Judges. During the hearing of a petition filed by candidate Shravan Kumar Pandey, the Commission admitted in the Allahabad High Court that two bundles of twenty-five answer sheets each were swapped due to incorrect coding.

Following an investigation, the Commission found five officials responsible and suspended three of them. Disciplinary action was taken against one official, while permission for action against a retired female officer has been sought from the government.

The allegations against the Commission include tampering with PCS answer sheets and granting passing marks to candidates in exchange for bribes.

The officials suspended for negligence include Section Officer Shiv Shankar, Review Officer Neha Shukla, and Assistant Review Officer Bhagwati Devi. Departmental action has been initiated against Deputy Secretary Satish Chandra Mishra, who oversaw the supervisory role, and a charge sheet is being issued to him. The retired Assistant Review Officer Chandrakala has also been found guilty, and approval for action under Rule 351A has been requested.

UPPSC Secretary Ashok Kumar cited human error as the reason for the incorrect coding of the answer sheet bundles. The Commission assured that necessary steps are being taken to prevent such mistakes in the future. Notably, all the swapped answer sheets were for the English subject, which was a 100-mark paper.

Regarding the fate of the results for the fifty candidates affected by the exchange of answer sheets, the High Court has directed the Commission to clarify the outcome. The court has asked how many candidates will be affected by the new results, how many new candidates will be selected, and what will happen to those who have already been appointed. The UPPSC Chairman has been instructed to file a new affidavit with all the required information. The next hearing on this matter will be on July 8.

The Division Bench of Justice SD Singh and Justice Anish Kumar Gupta is hearing the case.

Candidate Shravan Pandey, who appeared in the PCS (J) Main Exam-2022, reviewed his answer sheet through RTI and subsequently filed a petition in the Allahabad High Court. He alleged discrepancies in his English answer sheet, citing differences in handwriting and torn pages on the second sheet, which he claimed affected his exam performance.

On June 5, 2024, the High Court directed the UPPSC to produce six question paper answer sheets belonging to the petitioner. Two days later, on June 7, 2024, the Commission appeared in court and submitted an affidavit, stating that they are currently scrutinizing 18,042 answer sheets of all 3,019 candidates who participated in the main examination. They assured confidentiality during the evaluation process.

Concurrently, the Commission initiated the display of answer sheets to candidates, starting from June 20. Candidates who appeared for the PCS-J 2022 main exam will have the opportunity to view their copies by July 30, based on their roll numbers.

As of now, 232 candidates have availed themselves of this opportunity. The UP Judicial Service Civil Judge (Main) Exam 2022 was conducted for 302 posts from May 22 to May 25, 2023. The results were announced on August 30, 2023, with marks published in November 2023.