New Delhi: The Civil Services exam scheduled on Oct. 4 cannot be postponed over the Coronavirus crisis, Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) told the Supreme Court today. The Top Court was hearing a request seeking postponement of Civil Services exam. The Court today asked UPSC — the Central recruiting agency for appointments to and exams for various Civil Services of the Govt. — to file its affidavit by tomorrow and will hear the case again on Oct. 23. 

The exam, which was earlier scheduled on May 31, was rescheduled to Oct. 4 due to the pandemic. Twenty Civil Services aspirants had approached the Supreme Court, seeking for the crucial exam to be deferred by two to three months due to the flood situation in several parts of the country as well as COVID-19.

The aspirants said that the Civil Services exam, being a recruitment examination, is completely different from an academic examination and in the event of its postponement, there would not be any question of delay or loss of any academic session.

The petitioners said holding the exams at such a time “is nothing else but putting lives of lakhs of young students (including petitioners herein) at utmost risk and danger of disease and death.”

One of the petitioners, the father of a candidate, told the Court that his son is an officer with the Government and that due to heavy work load because of COVID, he was unable to take leave and prepare for the exam, whereas the others managed to stay home and prepare well. Several other important exams, including the NEET Medical entrance exam and the JEE for admission to the IITs, which too were postponed due to COVID-19, have already been held.