RITESH RANJAN Vs. UNION PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present petition has been listed on urgent mentioning. The hearing has been done by video conferencing.

(2.) It relates to the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination scheduled to be held on 4th October, 2020. The grievances of the Petitioners, from a quick reading of the petition, are two-fold. Firstly, that in Delhi more than 100 candidates are being permitted to take the examination from a single centre and secondly, that some of the centres are located in containment zones.

(3.) Mr. Ashutosh Ghade, ld. counsel appearing for the Petitioners submits that for a total of 71,378 students, there are only 150 sub centres in Delhi, which would mean at least 475 candidates would be taking the examination in each centre. This, according to him, would be violative of the Ministry of Home Affairs' (hereinafter, "MHA") orders dated 29th August, 2020 and 30th September, 2020 and the social distancing norms. He, further submits that there is difficulty for the candidates in accessing the centres in the containment zones.