NEW DELHI: The Centre on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that it was against granting one-time relaxation on the age limit to UPSC civil service candidates, including those who had exhausted their last attempt in the 2020 exam amid the pandemic, and would get one more chance this year provided they are not age barred, as it would be discriminatory to other aspirants.
The Centre informed this to a bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar, which reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas, which had sought one more chance in the UPSC’s civil services exam to those aspirants who could not appear in their last attempt in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the government, said initially the government was not willing to concede the extra chance and it was later done at the suggestion of the bench. “This is not the exam where you prepare at the last minutes.
People prepare for years together,” Raju told the bench. On February 5, the Centre had told the SC that it was agreeable to give an extra chance as a one-time relaxation to those aspirants, who had appeared in their last attempt in the exam and are otherwise not age-barred.