NEW DELHI: The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has on Monday issued a notice to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in connection with eight questions in the UPSC prelims paper held on May 24 which a few students allege are inaccurate. The Commission has been directed to submit its reply before the next hearing, slated for October 8. Incidentally, this is the first time that the UPSC has made public the provisional answer keys before the mains exam as the Supreme Court ordered it to do so.
The notice comes almost on the eve of the UPSC Mains exam, which is slated to be held from August 21 to 30. The candidates claim they could have lost up to 16 marks due to the issues with these questions.
Four UPSC aspirants, who failed to clear the prelims cut-off, approached the Tribunal on July 27, challenging questions in General Studies Paper-I. They have alleged that errors in the disputed questions could have cost candidates up to 16 marks, which they said could be crucial in determining whether a candidate clears the cut-off.
Shantanu Jugtawatad, a Supreme Court advocate who represented the students, told TNIE, “Following the SC direction, the UPSC for the first time published its provisional keys this year (May 27, 2026) and permitted ojections to it. Usually, they only publish these answer keys a year later after the entire examination process for the year is completed.”
The applicants have compared the provisional Answer Keys with primary government records, statutory provisions, authoritative publications, and other reliable source material, and identified serious infirmities in General Studies Paper-I (Set A) in these eight questions. The petition by the students states, “These questions suffer from material factual inaccuracies, answer keys demonstrably inconsistent with authoritative source material, and questions admitting of no sustainable correct option among those provided.
They state in the petition that the cumulative impact of these disputed questions, together with the consequences of negative marking, exceeds 16 marks, which are critical when it comes to clearing the cut-off mark.
For instance, the question 96 in the prelims paper speaks about insurance in aviation sector and lists two answers – 1) Aviation Hull Insurance covers physical aircraft including body, engine and onboard equipment and 2) Under the Montreal Convention adopted in 1999 by over 130 counties airlines are strictly liable to pay compensation to the family or nominee of every deceased passenger without requiring the family to prove fault. It gives four options – 1 only, 2 only, both 1 and 2 and neither 1 nor 2. The options given are contrary to authoritative source material, claims the petition.
The next hearing is listed for October 8.