Supreme Court approves UPSC’s proposal to publish provisional answer keys

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has approved the Union Public Service Commission’s (UPSC) proposal to publish provisional answer keys immediately after the Civil Services Preliminary Examination and invite objections from candidates before finalising results a landmark reform that ends decades of resistance and ushers in a new era of transparency in India’s most prestigious recruitment process.

A bench of Justices PS Narasimha and AS Chandurkar, while disposing of a batch of petitions challenging the UPSC’s earlier policy of delayed disclosure, observed that the Commission’s new affidavit represented a “conscious and well-considered decision” made after extensive deliberation. The Court stated that the revised mechanism effectively addresses candidates’ grievances while aligning the UPSC’s functioning with the principles of fairness, accountability, and transparency.

The change follows sustained legal efforts by civil services aspirants Vidushi Pandey and Himanshu Kumar, who had approached the Court seeking the timely publication of answer keys, cut-off marks, and candidates’ scores. They argued that withholding these details until the final stage of the exam cycle deprived aspirants of a fair chance to evaluate their performance and learn from errors.

Reacting to the verdict, petitioner Vidushi Pandey described the ruling as a “historic victory for millions of civil service aspirants” across the country.

“For the first time, UPSC will release a provisional answer key right after the Preliminary Examination, allowing candidates to raise objections and ensure fairness before results are declared. This long-awaited reform enhances transparency, restores faith in the examination process, and safeguards the hard work of countless deserving aspirants who devote years of their lives to this exam. Now we will be free from fear and anxiety after the Preliminary Examination and will also have an opportunity to improve ourselves,” Pandey said in a statement. (ANI)

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