Amid hearings on the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission Group 1 Mains (APPSC Group 1 Mains) examination matter, the Andhra Pradesh High Court (APHC) harshly reprimanded the APPSC for its lack of transparency today, Friday, September 19.
The court asked the APPSC what had been going on for 65 days at Haailand Resorts in Mangalagiri if answer scripts had not been evaluated there.
Observing that over Rs 20 lakh was spent and police personnel were deployed at the resorts, the court stated that the evaluation at Haailand was critical to the case. The court questioned APPSC Secretary PSR Anjaneyulu on his statement to the media that results would be announced soon if no evaluation had taken place, The New Indian Express reports.
The division bench of Justices Battu Devanand and Hariharanath Sharma noted that the APPSC did not file a complaint regarding anomalies immediately following the single bench judge's ruling in March 2024, but instead waited nearly a year. It found that the APPSC was suppressing information and "playing with the lives of thousands of candidates."
The case stems from a single judge's decision to cancel the Group 1 Mains exam in 2024 (Notification 27/2018), citing irregularities in manual evaluation and ordering that the exam be held again. The APPSC and selected candidates filed an appeal against the ruling, while non-selected candidates backed the cancellation.
Advocate General Dammalapati Srinivas, appearing for the APPSC, claimed that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) is already investigating accusations of irregularities at Haailand in response to a complaint filed in April of this year to determine the facts. He contended that it would be best to wait until the SIT report was submitted.
Representing non-selected candidates, Advocate Shiva argued that the evaluation took place in Haailand and that the single bench judge correctly cancelled the exam, emphasising that the APPSC filed a First Information Report (FIR) just to protect its officials.
Arguments of the APPSC and selected candidates were completed yesterday, Thursday, September 18, with the hearing of non-selected candidates' petitions continuing today, September 19.