In past, the Commission has not held any re-examination under similar circumstances, it said. The affidavit said the UPSC conducts the civil services examination strictly in accordance with the rules of examination framed annually by the Government of India in the DoP&T.

It said over the years, a cycle has evolved involving recruitment, training and final appointment ensuring that the government gets its requisite manpower on time and any disruption at any stage has the potential of upsetting the entire cycle not only for once but likely to have cascading effects in future as well. The Commission said the matter of compensatory/ extra attempt has been adjudicated by the apex court in the past against the plea of hardships faced by the aspirants due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the same was not granted.

It said the civil services main (written) examination 2021 was successfully conducted at 24 centres (cities.towns) on the schedule dates from January 7, 2022 to January 16, 2022 throughout the country following due COVID-19 protocols, which did not mandate making any separate arrangement for COVID infected candidates. The Commission said in order to perform its constitutional obligations to supply manpower to the government in a timely manner to fill the vacancies in the crucial positions, it is imperative that the UPSC follows its schedule of examinations which are prepared well in advance.

If the commission is to make a provision for re-examination, it will hardly be possible for it to complete its any examination on time. This will entail complete derailment of the schedule of post-examination activities of a particular examination but will also have cascading effects on the schedules of other ongoing examinations as well as other exams to follow, the affidavit said. In fact, accommodating such requests will lead to a chaotic situation where no examination can be completed on schedule, as a result of which vacancies in government will remain unfilled for an indefinite period and the aspirants of the Commission’s examinations will also remain in limbo as to when the results will be declared or when the next advertisement for recruitment will be issued, the UPSC said.

It said the prayers made in the petition pertain to core aspects of eligibility which are well delineated in the rules framed by the DoP&T in consultation with the UPSC. In the circumstances, DoP&T is also a stake holder in the process of conduct of civil services exam. Consequently, the views and stand of the DoP&T also may be considered in the interest of justice on the issues raised in writ petition, it said. The Centre had on Monday told the apex court that the call regarding extra attempt to appear in the UPSC examination will have to be taken by the DoP&T.