The Andhra Pradesh High Court (AP HC) on Tuesday raised serious concerns regarding an affidavit filed by the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) in connection with the Group‑1 Mains Exam 2022 evaluation process.
The affidavit, submitted by an officer other than the Secretary, failed to adhere to the proper legal norms, the court held.
A division bench comprising Justices Battu Devanand and Hariharanath Sharma questioned why the document lacked a self-declaration and was not signed by the Secretary of the Commission, The New Indian Express reports.
The court was further informed that APPSC lacked records explaining the rationale behind transferring answer sheets from its strong room to an external location on 5 December 2021 and their subsequent return on 26 February 2022.
While photocopies of payment cheques were available, no explanation for the expenses was provided.
Between March and May 2022, two government colleges evaluated the papers manually under APPSC’s direction, including printing barcodes, OMR sheets and control bundles. Relevant documents were placed before the court in a sealed cover.
The irregularities stretch back to issues in the 2018 Group-1 Mains evaluation, which led a previous Single Judge to cancel the 26 May 2022 list of qualified candidates and order a fresh examination to be held within six months.
The bench warned the commission that any further lapses could invite suo motu penal action against officials. The court has ordered APPSC to file a detailed affidavit by 17 November containing all records of answer-sheet transfers, evaluation procedures and expenditure details.
