HC refuses pleas to cancel BPSC exams, criticises coaching centres

Patna: The Patna high court on Friday dismissed a batch of petitions seeking the cancellation of the 70th Combined (Preliminary) Competitive Examination conducted by the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) on Dec 13 last year and Jan 4 this year for a cancelled examination centre in Patna. The court criticised the role of coaching centres, saying that they had instigated aspirants to protest rather than focus on preparing for their competitive exams.
A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar and Justice Partha Sarthy rejected the public interest litigation (PIL) filed by a legal trust and five other writ petitions, ruling that there was no conclusive evidence of malpractice sufficient to annul the entire 70th CCE prelims result. The court said that the only evidence presented by the petitioners regarding alleged large-scale malpractice and paper leaks consisted of social media posts, which surfaced only after the examination. The court held that if it were possible to identify and separate tainted candidates from untainted ones, this should be done rather than cancelling the entire examination.
The court, after reviewing materials submitted by the state govt, found that coaching centres had played a role in fuelling student protests by spreading unverified claims about irregularities in the examination process. It observed that coaching centres had heightened students' concerns through their statements on social media and directed their owners to act responsibly and refrain from misleading aspirants. Expressing disapproval, the court also criticised the Bihar Public Service Commission's decision to hold discussions with coaching centre representatives as a means of addressing the unrest. The judges said that such engagement only encouraged coaching centres to align themselves with the protests under the pretext of supporting students, ultimately serving their own interests by increasing enrolments.
The court directed the Bihar Public Service Commission to undergo structural reforms by incorporating more subject experts and establishing a high-level permanent committee responsible for reviewing examination security and overall management. It ordered the commission to ensure that the forthcoming Mains examination is conducted in a fair, transparent and orderly manner.
Senior counsels Y V Giri, Abhinav Shrivastava, Abhijit Anand, Chandan Kumar, Santosh Kumar Pandey and Roona represented the petitioners. The state was represented by advocate general P K Shahi. Senior advocates Lalit Kishore and Sanjay Pandey appeared on behalf of the Bihar Public Service Commission.