New Delhi, Apr 23 (UNI) The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to stay the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) main examination, scheduled for Friday, amid allegations of a paper leak during the Preliminary Examination held on December 13, 2024.
A bench comprising Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Manmohan dismissed a batch of petitions challenging the validity of the 70th Combined Competitive Preliminary Exam, which was conducted across nearly 900 centres for close to five lakh candidates.
Appearing for the petitioners, Senior Advocates Anjana Prakash and Colin Gonsalves argued that the preliminary exam was compromised, citing WhatsApp messages allegedly containing leaked questions and video clips showing announcements of answers over loudspeakers at certain centres.
However, the bench expressed skepticism over the authenticity and conclusiveness of the digital evidence presented.
Justice Manmohan noted that the allegations mainly pertained to a single exam centre Bapu Pariksha Parisar where the Commission had already conducted a re-test for nearly 10,000 candidates.
“Even as per the petitioners’ claims, the alleged leak occurred after the candidates entered the examination halls,” observed the bench, pointing to the limited scope of the irregularities.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the State of Bihar and BPSC, defended the integrity of the examination process. He submitted that the exam employed four sets of question papers with shuffled questions, minimizing the risk of coordinated malpractice. He added that only two of the 150 questions were verbatim from mock test papers.
Countering this, Mr. Gonsalves argued that at least 24 questions were identical to those circulated by coaching institutes. However, the Court observed that the overlap between coaching material and official exams is not uncommon.
“In competitive exams, 30–40 percent of questions may resemble those in widely available booklets,” remarked Justice Manmohan, who also humorously recalled the popularity of “duggies” (guidebooks) during his days at the Campus Law Centre.
The Court further noted that no definite evidence had emerged to show malpractice across multiple centres. It emphasized the growing distrust surrounding public examinations. “Everyone is playing on each other’s insecurities. It’s unfortunate that no exam is reaching a conclusion these days. We’re suspecting foul play in everything,” Justice Manmohan commented.
The Anand Legal Aid Forum Trust, the petitioner, had earlier approached the Supreme Court in January 2025, seeking cancellation of the preliminary exam and the formation of a probe committee.
The Court directed the petitioner to approach the Patna High Court first. In March, the High Court dismissed similar petitions citing lack of concrete evidence and allowed the BPSC to proceed with the main examination.
The ongoing controversy stems from the alleged leak at Bapu Pariksha Parisar, one of the many centres for the December 2024 Preliminary Exam. While protestors have called for a complete re-examination, the Supreme Court's decision today clears the way for the main examination to be conducted as scheduled.
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