U.P.P.S.C., THROUGH ITS CHAIRMAN & ANRversusRAHUL SINGH & ANR.

28                      [2018]
              SUPREME COURT    5 S.C.R. 28
                             REPORTS                     [2018] 5 S.C.R.


A            U.P.P.S.C., THROUGH ITS CHAIRMAN & ANR.
                                      v.
                          RAHUL SINGH & ANR.
                       (Civil Appeal No. 5838 of 2018)
B                              JUNE 14, 2018
          [UDAY UMESH LALIT AND DEEPAK GUPTA, JJ.]
            Education/Educational Institutions – Matters of academic
     nature – Interference by the court – Extent and power of – Upper
     Subordinate Services preliminary examination – Key answers
C
     challenged by the candidates as incorrect – High Court overruled
     the view of the Commission which was based on the report of expert
     Committee – On appeal, held: Judges are not experts and cannot
     take on the role of experts in academic matters – They must exercise
     great restraint in such matters and should not overstep their
D    jurisdiction to upset the opinion of the experts – Courts should be
     reluctant to entertain a plea challenging the correctness of the key
     answers – When the candidate demonstrates that the key answers
     are patently wrong on the face of it, the courts can enter into the
     academic field, weigh the pros and cons of the arguments given by
     both sides and hold as to which of the answer is better or more
E
     correct – On facts, all the three questions needed a long process of
     reasoning and High Court itself noticed that the stand of the
     Commission is also supported by certain text books – High Court
     over stepped its jurisdiction by giving the directions amounting to
     setting aside the decision of experts in the field – Answer given by
F    the Commission is correct – Order passed by the High Court is set
     aside.
          Allowing the appeal filed by UP Public Service Commission
     and dismissing the appeals filed by the candidates, the Court
           HELD: 1.1 The onus is on the candidate to not only
G    demonstrate that the key answer is incorrect but also that it is a
     glaring mistake which is totally apparent and no inferential process
     or reasoning is required to show that the key answer is wrong.
     The Constitutional Courts must exercise great restraint in such
     matters and should be reluctant to entertain a plea challenging
H    the correctness of the key answers. [Para 12][34-C-D]
                                       28
   U.P.P.S.C., THROUGH ITS CHAIRMAN v. RAHUL SINGH                     29


      1.2 In the instant case, even before publishing the first list   A
of key answers the Commission had got the key answers
moderated by two expert committees. Thereafter, objections were
invited and a 26 member committee was constituted to verify the
objections and after this exercise the Committee recommended
that 5 questions be deleted and in 2 questions, key answers be
                                                                       B
changed. It can be presumed that these committees consisted of
experts in various subjects for which the examinees were tested.
Judges cannot take on the role of experts in academic matters.
Unless, the candidate demonstrates that the key answers are
patently wrong on the face of it, the courts cannot enter into the
academic field, weigh the pros and cons of the arguments given         C
by both sides and then come to the conclusion as to which of the
answer is better or more correct. All the 3 questions needed a
long process of reasoning and the High Court itself has noticed
that the stand of the Commission is also supported by certain
text books. When there are conflicting views, then the court must
                                                                       D
bow down to the opinion of the experts. Judges are not and cannot
be experts in all fields and, therefore, they must exercise great
restraint and should not overstep their jurisdiction to upset the
opinion of the experts. [Para 14][34-H; 35-A]
      1.3 The High Court over stepped its jurisdiction by giving
                                                                       E
the directions which amounted to setting aside the decision of
experts in the field. As far as the objection of the appellant-R is
concerned, after going through the question on which he raised
an objection, the prima facie view is that that the answer given
by the Commission is correct. [Para 15][35-B-C]
                                                                       F
      Kanpur University, through Vice Chancellor and Others
      v. Samir Gupta and Others [1984] 1 SCR 73 : (1983) 4
      SCC 309; Ran Vijay Singh and Others v. State of Uttar
      Pradesh and Others (2018) 2 SCC 357 - referred to.
                       Case Law Reference                              G
      [1984] 1 SCR 73                  referred to     Para 10
      (2018) 2 SCC 357                 referred to     Para 11


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30             SUPREME COURT REPORTS                           [2018] 5 S.C.R.


A          CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 5838
     of 2018.
           From the Judgment and Order dated 30.03.2018 of the High Court
     of Judicature at Allahabad in Writ-A No. 4734 of 2018.
                                        WITH
B
           C. A. Nos. 5839, 5840-5842 of 2018.
           Maninder Singh, ASG, Ankit Yadav, Shrish Kumar Misra, Badri
     Prasad Singh, Satendra Tripathi, Narendra M. Sharma, Ms. Anandita
     S., Ankur Sood, J. N. Patel, Ms. Romila Mandal, K. Ruza Faridi, Sanjay
C    Rastogi, Shahbaaz Jameel, Gopal Jha, Bankey Bihari Sharma, Advs. for
     the appearing parties.
           The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
           DEEPAK GUPTA, J. 1. Applications for impleadment are
     allowed.
D
           2. Leave granted.
            3. These appeals are being disposed of by a common judgment
     since they arise out of one judgment delivered by the High Court of
     Allahabad on 30.03.2018.
E            4. Briefly stated, the facts necessary for the decision of this case
     are that the appellant U.P. Public Service Commission (for short ‘the
     Commission’) issued an advertisement on 22.02.2017 inviting applications
     for filling up vacancies in the Upper Subordinate Services of the State.
     The selection is conducted through a three stage test consisting of
     preliminary written examination, main examination and interview. Those
F    candidates who clear the preliminary examination are entitled to appear
     in the main examination.
           5. The preliminary examination consisted of two papers namely
     General Studies-I and General Studies-II. We are in this case concerned
     only with the General Studies-I paper which carried 200 marks and
G    consists of 150 objective type questions with multiple choice answers.
     After the preliminary examination was conducted, key answers were
     published by the Commission. Many persons including the petitioners
     before the Allahabad High Court contended that some of the key answers
     were incorrect or that some of the questions had more than one correct
H    answer.
   U.P.P.S.C., THROUGH ITS CHAIRMAN v. RAHUL SINGH                           31
                    [DEEPAK GUPTA, J.]

       6. It is not disputed before us that the Commission initially         A
constituted two separate expert committees; one comprising of 15 experts
and the other comprising of 18 experts. This was done even before the
key answers were displayed on the official website of the Commission.
After these two committees gave their expert opinion the key answers
were uploaded on the official website of the Commission during the
                                                                             B
period 18.11.2017 to 23.11.2017. Objections to the key answers were to
be submitted by 24.11.2017.
       7. The Commission received 962 objections. The Commission
constituted a committee consisting of 26 members to consider the
objections raised by the candidates. This 26 member expert committee
examined all the objections over a period of two days and, thereafter, on    C
the basis of the recommendations of this committee 5 questions were
deleted and the key answers of 2 questions were changed. As a
consequence the result was declared on the basis of 145 questions.
Thereafter, various candidates filed writ petitions in the Allahabad High
Court wherein challenge was raised to the correctness of the key answers     D
in respect of 14 questions. The High Court examined these questions
and after elaborate discussion and reasoning negatived the prayer of the
petitioners in respect of 11 questions but in respect of one question the
High Court held that the question should be deleted; in respect of another
question it held that there were two correct answers and in respect of
one more question it disagreed with the view of the Commission and           E
accepted the submission of the petitioners that the answer given in the
key was incorrect. This judgment is under challenge in these appeals.
       8. In the appeal filed by the Commission it has been urged that the
High Court transgressed its jurisdiction and went beyond the scope of
judicial review available in such cases and it should not have overruled     F
the view of the Commission which was based on the report of two
committees of experts. On the other hand one of the original writ
petitioners in his appeal claims that as far as the question where the
High Court has held more than one answer is correct, the same should
be deleted and in respect of another question it is urged that the High      G
Court wrongly accepted the answer of the Commission.
      9. What is the extent and power of the Court to interfere in matters
of academic nature has been the subject matter of a number of cases.
We shall deal with the two main cases cited before us.
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32               SUPREME COURT REPORTS                          [2018] 5 S.C.R.


A           10. In Kanpur University, through Vice Chancellor and Others
     vs. Samir Gupta and Others 1, this Court was dealing with a case
     relating to the Combined Pre Medical Test. Admittedly, the examination
     setter himself had provided the key answers and there were no
     committees to moderate or verify the correctness of the key answers
     provided by the examiner. This Court upheld the view of the Allahabad
B
     High Court that the students had proved that 3 of the key answers were
     wrong. Following observations of the Court are pertinent:-
             “16………..We agree that the key answer should be assumed to
             be correct unless it is proved to be wrong and that it should not be
             held to be wrong by an inferential process of reasoning or by a
C            process of rationalization. It must be clearly demonstrated to be
             wrong, that is to say, it must be such as no reasonable body of
             men well-versed in the particular subject would regard as
             correct………”
           The Court gave further directions but we are concerned mainly
D    with one that the State Government should devise a system for moderating
     the key answers furnished by the paper setters.
          11. In Ran Vijay Singh and Others vs. State of Uttar Pradesh
     and Others 2, this Court after referring to a catena of judicial
     pronouncements summarized the legal position in the following terms:-
E
              “30. The law on the subject is therefore, quite clear and we
             only propose to highlight a few significant conclusions. They are:
               30.1. If a statute, Rule or Regulation governing an examination
             permits the re-evaluation of an answer sheet or scrutiny of an
F            answer sheet as a matter of right, then the authority conducting
             the examination may permit it;
               30.2. If a statute, Rule or Regulation governing an examination
             does not permit re-evaluation or scrutiny of an answer sheet (as
             distinct from prohibiting it) then the court may permit re-evaluation
             or scrutiny only if it is demonstrated very clearly, without any
G
             “inferential process of reasoning or by a process of rationalisation”
             and only in rare or exceptional cases that a material error has
             been committed;
     1
         (1983) 4 SCC 309
     2
         (2018) 2 SCC 357
H
   U.P.P.S.C., THROUGH ITS CHAIRMAN v. RAHUL SINGH                            33
                    [DEEPAK GUPTA, J.]

       30.3. The court should not at all re-evaluate or scrutinise the        A
      answer sheets of a candidate—it has no expertise in the matter
      and academic matters are best left to academics;
       30.4. The court should presume the correctness of the key
      answers and proceed on that assumption; and
       30.5. In the event of a doubt, the benefit should go to the            B
      examination authority rather than to the candidate.”
      We may also refer to the following observations in Paras 31 and
32 which show why the Constitutional Courts must exercise restraint in
such matters:-
                                                                              C
        “31. On our part we may add that sympathy or compassion
      does not play any role in the matter of directing or not directing
      re-evaluation of an answer sheet. If an error is committed by the
      examination authority, the complete body of candidates suffers.
      The entire examination process does not deserve to be derailed
      only because some candidates are disappointed or dissatisfied or        D
      perceive some injustice having been caused to them by an
      erroneous question or an erroneous answer. All candidates suffer
      equally, though some might suffer more but that cannot be helped
      since mathematical precision is not always possible. This Court
      has shown one way out of an impasse — exclude the suspect or            E
      offending question.
        32. It is rather unfortunate that despite several decisions of this
      Court, some of which have been discussed above, there is
      interference by the courts in the result of examinations. This places
      the examination authorities in an unenviable position where they        F
      are under scrutiny and not the candidates. Additionally, a massive
      and sometimes prolonged examination exercise concludes with
      an air of uncertainty. While there is no doubt that candidates put
      in a tremendous effort in preparing for an examination, it must not
      be forgotten that even the examination authorities put in equally
      great efforts to successfully conduct an examination. The enormity      G
      of the task might reveal some lapse at a later stage, but the court
      must consider the internal checks and balances put in place by
      the examination authorities before interfering with the efforts put
      in by the candidates who have successfully participated in the
      examination and the examination authorities. The present appeals
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34            SUPREME COURT REPORTS                          [2018] 5 S.C.R.


A          are a classic example of the consequence of such interference
           where there is no finality to the result of the examinations even
           after a lapse of eight years. Apart from the examination authorities
           even the candidates are left wondering about the certainty or
           otherwise of the result of the examination — whether they have
           passed or not; whether their result will be approved or disapproved
B
           by the court; whether they will get admission in a college or
           university or not; and whether they will get recruited or not. This
           unsatisfactory situation does not work to anybody’s advantage
           and such a state of uncertainty results in confusion being worse
           confounded. The overall and larger impact of all this is that public
C          interest suffers.”
           12. The law is well settled that the onus is on the candidate to not
     only demonstrate that the key answer is incorrect but also that it is a
     glaring mistake which is totally apparent and no inferential process or
     reasoning is required to show that the key answer is wrong. The
D    Constitutional Courts must exercise great restraint in such matters and
     should be reluctant to entertain a plea challenging the correctness of the
     key answers. In Kanpur University case (supra), the Court
     recommended a system of - (1) moderation; (2) avoiding ambiguity in
     the questions; (3) prompt decisions be taken to exclude suspected
     questions and no marks be assigned to such questions.
E
            13. As far as the present case is concerned even before publishing
     the first list of key answers the Commission had got the key answers
     moderated by two expert committees. Thereafter, objections were invited
     and a 26 member committee was constituted to verify the objections
     and after this exercise the Committee recommended that 5 questions be
F    deleted and in 2 questions, key answers be changed. It can be presumed
     that these committees consisted of experts in various subjects for which
     the examinees were tested. Judges cannot take on the role of experts in
     academic matters. Unless, the candidate demonstrates that the key
     answers are patently wrong on the face of it, the courts cannot enter
G    into the academic field, weigh the pros and cons of the arguments given
     by both sides and then come to the conclusion as to which of the answer
     is better or more correct.
           14. In the present case we find that all the 3 questions needed a
     long process of reasoning and the High Court itself has noticed that the
H    stand of the Commission is also supported by certain text books. When
    U.P.P.S.C., THROUGH ITS CHAIRMAN v. RAHUL SINGH                             35
                     [DEEPAK GUPTA, J.]

there are conflicting views, then the court must bow down to the opinion        A
of the experts. Judges are not and cannot be experts in all fields and,
therefore, they must exercise great restraint and should not overstep
their jurisdiction to upset the opinion of the experts.
       15. In view of the above discussion we are clearly of the view
that the High Court over stepped its jurisdiction by giving the directions      B
which amounted to setting aside the decision of experts in the field. As
far as the objection of the appellant - Rahul Singh is concerned, after
going through the question on which he raised an objection, we ourselves
are of the prima facie view that the answer given by the Commission is
correct.
                                                                                C
      16. In view of the above discussion we allow the appeal filed by
the U.P. Public Service Commission and set aside the judgment of the
Allahabad High Court. The appeals filed by Rahul Singh and Jay Bux
Singh and Others are dismissed. All pending applications stand disposed
of.
                                                                                D

Nidhi Jain                                               Appeals disposed of.




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