PATNA: The Patna High Court on Thursday declined to stay the results of the 70th Combined (Preliminary) Competitive Examination while hearing a writ petition filed by students associated with Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraj Party. The petition alleged irregularities in the examination conducted on 13 December last year.
After an 80-minute hearing on the petition demanding a re-test of the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) prelims, the court clarified in its order that “any result of the preliminary examination, conducted by the Commission, will be the subject matter of the final outcome of this petition”.
The single-judge bench of Justice Arvind Singh Chandel passed the order after listening to arguments from both sides. The court has scheduled the next hearing for 31 January and directed the BPSC to submit a counter affidavit addressing all the points raised in the petition by 30 January.
There were 14 petitioners in the case. Government counsel P. K. Shahi requested the court to combine all related petitions for a unified hearing.
“At this stage, I am not inclined to grant any interim relief, as prayed by the petitioners. The senior counsel for the respondents are directed to file a detailed counter affidavit on or before 30 January 2025,” stated the bench.
“It is made clear that any result of the preliminary examination, conducted by the Commission, will be the subject matter of the final outcome of this petition,” the court added.
Earlier, the petitioner’s counsel argued that the question paper had been leaked, and some candidates were not provided with the question papers. Furthermore, it was alleged that a day before the examination, the Commission changed the exam centres of several candidates. Separate examinations were conducted on two different dates, and question papers were reportedly circulated on social media platform X.
The counsel also submitted that irregularities were not limited to the Bapu Pariksha Parisar near Kumhrar in the state capital but occurred at approximately 28 other examination centres, as reported by candidates. However, the BPSC counsel strongly opposed these allegations.
The court will continue to hear the case on 31 January.