SC refuses to hear BPSC paper leak row plea, asks petitioner to approach HC

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to hear a plea seeking the cancellation of the 70th Combined Competitive Exam (preliminary) conducted by the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) over an alleged paper leak and advised the petitioner to first approach the Patna high court instead, according to a report by The Indian Express.

 

A three-judge bench, led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, stated that the Supreme Court could not be the first forum for every issue and emphasised the importance of approaching the high court first.

 

According to the report, the petitioner's lawyer, representing the Anand Legal Aid Forum Trust, highlighted incidents of police lathi charge on protesters who were demonstrating against the alleged paper leak. He claimed the police used excessive force, which was witnessed across the country, and pointed out that the lathi charge occurred near the residence of the Patna high court's chief justice.

 

The lawyer also expressed concern about the rising trend of paper leaks in competitive exams and urged the court to intervene. However, the bench, which included justices Sanjay Kumar and K V Viswanathan, maintained that the petitioner should file a petition in the Patna high court under Article 226 of the Constitution.

 

In its order, the Supreme Court stated, “We feel that it will be appropriate and more expeditious that the petitioner approaches the Patna HC”, and declined to entertain the plea, as reported by The Indian Express.

 

Why are students protesting?

On December 13, the BPSC 70th Combined Preliminary Exam was held in many centres across Bihar, with over 500,000 students taking the test. However, paper leaks were allegedly reported from the Bapu Pariksha Parisar exam centre in Patna. These included delays in giving out question papers to students appearing for the exam, causing anger among students, leading to protests in Patna.

 

However, BPSC denied the allegations, calling it a “conspiracy” to cancel the exam. Later, the BPSC decided to conduct a retest for some candidates on January 4 at 22 centres in Patna. Out of the 12,012 eligible candidates, 8,111 downloaded their admit cards, and 5,943 appeared for the retest.