The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Wednesday issued a four-week stay on the conduct of the state Public Service Commission Group 1 examination interviews that were scheduled to begin from Thursday. After hearing eight petitions that were filed in the matter alleging irregularities in the conduct of the Group 1 mains examination, the court in its interim order issued a four-week stay on the interview process. Following the court stay, the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission has postponed the interview process by four weeks, stating that fresh dates will be announced shortly.
On Tuesday, the court had reserved its judgement after hearing arguments on the matter. The petitioners' lawyers had contended that the mains examination was not conducted properly. They also claimed that the candidates were not informed in advance about digital evaluation of answer sheets. They also objected to the evaluation of Telugu medium answer sheets within the state, while English medium answer sheets were evaluated outside the state. The government lawyer, on his part, argued that the examination was conducted as per the rules.
Earlier in December 2020, over 1300 Group 1 service aspirants were a worried lot after the Andhra Pradesh State Public Service Commission (APPSC) decided to conduct exams in 45 days. Many of the students had met the Commission’s Secretary and urged the government to reschedule the exams so that the candidates would have at least three to four-months’ time to prepare for the examination. In 2019, more than 60,000 people had appeared for the preliminary exam of the Group 1 service, hoping to make it to the 170 positions. These include the posts of Deputy Collector, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Commercial Taxes Officer, Road Transport Officer and other state-level designations.