Allahabad HC directs UPPSC to conduct CSES mains exam 2025 as per schedule

PRAYAGRAJ: The Allahabad High Court on Friday directed the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) to conduct the mains examination of Combined State Engineering Services (CSES) 2024 according to schedule on September 28 and 29, saying any change at the eleventh hour will result in chaos and injustice to the candidates.

A division bench of justices MC Tripathi and AK Gupta, however, made it clear that the result will be subject to the outcome of the special appeal by UPPSC.

"We find that the writ petitions preferred by about 50 petitioners have been allowed by learned single judge vide impugned judgement and order dated September 25, 2025 with direction to the Commission to redraw the list," the bench observed.

"At this stage, this court feels that as the examination is going to be held on September 28, 2025 and since more than 7000 candidates will be appearing in the said examination, any disturbance in the examination at the eleventh hour will result in great chaos and injustice to the appearing candidates," it said Earlier on Thursday, a single bench had passed an order directing the UPPSC to revise its preliminary examination results for the 2024 Combined State Engineering Services recruitment.

Also read UPSC IFS Main 2025 time table out; exams from November 16

The bench had held that the principle of migration applies even at the stage of preliminary or screening tests. The preliminary examination, held earlier this year, had its results declared on May 26. Against 609 posts, only 7,358 candidates were shortlisted for the mains examination, whereas Clause 11(8) of the advertisement required 15 times the vacancies, 9,135 candidates, to be declared qualified.

Reserved candidates plea

Candidates belonging to reserved category pleaded before the single judge that the commission's method of publishing results strictly category-wise unfairly excluded many meritorious candidates belonging to OBC, SC and ST communities who had scored higher than the last unreserved candidate but were not counted in the open list.

Further, their plea before the single judge was that the unreserved category is not a "reservation quota" in itself and must remain open to all candidates. By limiting migration only to the final selection stage, the commission effectively denied equal opportunity at the very threshold of the recruitment process. This order was challenged before the division bench in the present proceedings by filing a special appeal.