The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) told a division bench of Acting Chief Justice A K Sikri and Justice Rajiv Shakdher that it has taken the step on the basis of its expert panel recommendation, following which the bench sought the panel's report by September 19.
The court gave the direction while hearing a petition which has questioned the UPSC's decision to introduce in Civil Services (Prel) examination a new compulsory paper, part of which is to test candidates' ability to understand English.
The petition has termed the UPSC move as "discriminatory".
In its reply to the petition, the UPSC, through its counsel Naresh Kaushik, said, "The new format of Civil Service (Prel) Examination is evolved through a process of intense review of the examination system by an Expert Committee and the new system has been approved by the government."
The commission also sought dismissal of the petition saying "the scope of judicial review in cases where a policy decision is taken pursuant to the recommendations of an expert committee is limited."
Petitioner Dina Nath Batra, in his plea, has argued that the new test paper deprived a majority of Indian citizens, having Hindi or other languages as the language of instruction during their education, of a level playing field in the competition. (More)
