SC declines plea against HC order quashing 2016 MPSC main exam

The Supreme Court Friday refused to entertain a plea challenging the Manipur High Court verdict which quashed the Manipur Public Service Commission (Main) exam, 2016 on the ground that it was not conducted fairly and had ordered CBI probe into the matter.

A bench headed by Justice M M Shantanagoudar dismissed the plea filed by some candidates, who were selected in the 2016 main examination, challenging the high court's October 18, 2019, judgement.

The high court had passed the verdict on a batch of pleas which had raised the issue related to irregularities in the exam.

"From the aforesaid facts and circumstances, it can be safely held that the MPSC has no intention to conduct any examination in a fair and just manner. It had, in the present case, miserably failed to discharge its duties and functions as mandated in the Constitution of India," the high court had said in its judgement.

It had directed the CBI to investigate the conduct of examination by the MPSC within three months and take appropriate action.

During the arguments in the apex court, senior advocate Indira Jaising and lawyer Prashant Bhushan, appearing for those on whose petition the high court had passed the order, said that fresh exam should be conducted as the illegalities go to the root of the matter.

MPSC had issued notification in April 2016 inviting online applications for filling up 82 posts of different categories of service through the Manipur Civil Services Combined Competitive Examination, 2016 which was divided into two stages-one, preliminary and main examination.

Several candidates, who had appeared in the main examination, had approached the chief minister of Manipur alleging anomalies and irregularities in the process of conducting the examination while others had filed applications under the RTI Act for furnishing information regarding their answer sheets.

Initially, petitions were filed in high court seeking cancellation of the main examination questioning the validity and correctness of process of selection.

A single judge bench of the high court had dismissed the petitions in February 2017.

Later, a division bench of the high court allowed the appeals filed against the February 2017 order and quashed the 2016 main examination conducted by the MPSC.