HC notice to UPSC,Centre on plea against English test

The Delhi High Court questioned the Centres decision to make English a compulsory paper in the preliminary examination for civil services and sought responses from the government and the Union Public Service Commission

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday questioned the Centres decision to make English a compulsory paper in the preliminary examination for civil services and sought responses from the government and the Union Public Service Commission.

Summoning original records on the basis of which the new pattern was decided,a Bench of acting Chief Justice A K Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw issued notices and sought responses by March 14.

The court was responding to a public interest litigation claiming that the move deprived a vast majority of Indians,who had studied in vernacular languages,of fairly competing in the civil services examination.

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Till 2010,candidates appearing for the examination were required to answer two objective type question papers; one on general knowledge and the other on a subject of his or her choice. From 2011 onwards,candidates are expected to take an aptitude test for the preliminary examination. The aptitude test carries 200 marks,and about 22.5 marks are allotted to English language comprehension skills.

The petition,moved through advocate Monika Arora,said the governments decision was violative of Article 344 of the Constitution that sought the progressive use of Hindi for official purpose in the country. The petition by Dinanath Batra and others referred to Article 351 that says its the Centres duty to promote Hindi.