The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that no “extra attempt” or “age relaxation” could be granted to candidates for the 2021 civil services exams, rejecting a plea that adequate preparations could not be made for the 2020 exams because of the pandemic.

The apex court said the plea could not be countenanced as around the same time in September-October 2020, several other competitive exams had been held despite the coronavirus outbreak.

The Centre had earlier in February told the Supreme Court that it was agreeable to give an extra chance as a one-time relaxation to UPSC civil service aspirants who had appeared in their last attempt in the 2020 exams amid the Covid-19 pandemic and were otherwise not age-barred. Subsequently, the government had informed the court that it would not be possible to give a second chance because of procedural and legal issues, a stand upheld by the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

“This court cannot lose sight of the fact that apart from the present Examination 2020, it has been brought to the notice of this court that remedial measures were adopted for the candidates who had participated in the various examinations/recruitment tests held for central services by the commission (UPSC) at the given point of time during the Covid-19 pandemic,” the court said.

“…Apart from that, the state commissions/recruiting agencies must have conducted their examinations/recruitment tests for various services and merely because the present petitioners made a complaint to this court, cannot be taken into isolation for the purpose of seeking additional chance/attempt in the backdrop of the Covid­19 pandemic, which has been faced by not only the candidates appeared in Examination 2020 but by the candidates who appeared in the various examinations/recruitment tests held by the state commissions,” the court added.

A bench of Justices A.M. Khanwilkar, Indu Malhotra and Ajay Rastogi passed the judgment while dismissing a batch of petitions filed by civil services aspirants for granting them an extra attempt and age relaxation to appear for the 2021 exams as they could not fully prepare for the 2020 tests on account of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Writing the judgment, Justice Rastogi noted that the pandemic had left a trail of devastation across the country and the world, but that did not in any manner give the legitimate right to the petitioners to claim additional benefits or attempts, which are otherwise not permissible under the Civil Services Rules, 2020.

The court reasoned that if an additional attempt was offered to only those who had used up their last chance during last year’s exams “for the reason that they had suffered during the Covid-19 pandemic, all attemptees irrespective of the nature of attempt (i.e. 1st, 2nd, etc.) who appeared in Examination 2020 must have faced the same consequences as being faced by the writ petitioners and each one of them has suffered in one way or the other during the Covid­19 pandemic”.

“At the same time, this reasoning would equally apply to those who have crossed the upper age barrier,” Justice Rastogi noted.

The court said it was within the realm of the executive to take a policy decision based on the prevailing circumstances for better administration and tackling of exigencies, but at the same time it was not within the domain of the courts to legislate on such issues.

The civil services exams were initially scheduled in June 2020 but were eventually held on October 4.