The Single Bench of the Delhi High Court in the case of Abhishek Kumar Singh vs Food Safety and Standards Authority of India & Anr. consisting of Justice Rekha Palli reiterated that during clashes of examination, the Courts cannot countenance a situation where exams are continuously deferred as they are different examinations and the petitioner(s) will have to take a choice where he/they want(s) to appear.
Facts
The petitioner, claiming to be a candidate for the Civil Services (Mains) Examination to be conducted by the respondent no.2/ Union Public Service Commission on 24.09.2022 as also for the examination for the post of Central Food Safety Officer and Technical Officer to be conducted by respondent no.1/Food Safety and Standards Authority of India on the same date, approached this Court with a prayer that either the respondent no.1 or respondent no.2 be directed to change the date of examinations so as to enable him to appear in both the examinations.
Contentions Made
Petitioner: It was contended that the petitioner had prepared for both the examinations and if the date was not changed, the petitioner must forego the opportunity which will be highly prejudicial to his career prospects.
Respondent: It was contended that all arrangements for the smooth conduct of the examinations have already been made and, therefore, any change in the date of examinations will lead to a total administrative chaos as well as grave inconvenience to many candidates. Reliance was placed on Amit Kumar Kohli vs. The Hon’ble High Court of Rajasthan & Ors. wherein a similar prayer had been rejected.
Observations of the Court
The Bench noted that even though the petitioner may be justified in urging that on account of the date of both the examinations being same, he will have to forego the opportunity to appear in one of the examinations, the same cannot be a ground for directing any change in the date of the examinations, as prayed for. Moreover, since the dates had been declared a while ago, there was no point in raising such concern with barely three weeks left for the examinations.
It concurred with the view in Amit Kumar Kohli (Supra), wherein the below was held:
“We cannot countenance a situation where exams are continuously deferred as they are different examinations and the petitioner(s) will have to take a choice where he/they want(s) to appear as otherwise it causes grave prejudice to other candidates and to the examination process.”
Judgment
The Bench, not finding any merits, dismissed the present petition.
Case: Abhishek Kumar Singh vs Food Safety and Standards Authority of India & Anr.
Citation: W.P.(C) 12726/2022
Bench: Justice Rekha Palli
Decided on: 2nd September 2022
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