The Supreme Court has issued notice in a writ petition raising concerns over the conduct of national recruitment examinations held by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC). The petition seeks directions to ensure that the selection process is carried out in a fair, transparent, and efficient manner.
A Bench of Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice A.S. Chandurkar passed the order while hearing submissions that the SSC, entrusted with recruiting candidates for various gazetted and non-gazetted posts across Union Ministries, has recently compromised examination standards.
According to the petitioner, for several years Tata Consultancy Services had been managing the examinations without major controversy. However, the Commission recently engaged Eduquity to oversee the computer-based test phase, despite what were described as its questionable credentials and poor past record in administering competitive examinations.
It has been alleged that the SSC Selection Post/Phase XIII Examination, 2025, conducted through Eduquity, was marred by widespread irregularities, ranging from faulty technical infrastructure and inadequate supervision to mismatched question papers. These lapses, the petition states, caused immense inconvenience and prejudice to thousands of aspirants nationwide.
Representations highlighting these grievances were made to the Union Ministry concerned. While assurances were given that corrective steps would follow, subsequent phases of the examination reportedly suffered from the same systemic flaws. The Commission itself, on the eve of the second phase, admitted its inability to allot preferred centres to nearly 21% of candidates. A later notification dated 8 August acknowledged large-scale disruptions during the first phase, forcing postponement of the examination for nearly 59,000 affected candidates.
With the third phase scheduled for September, the petitioners have urged the Court to intervene, citing apprehensions that the same mismanagement could recur.
The matter will now proceed after responses are filed pursuant to the notice issued.
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