The Gauhati High Court (Itanagar Permanent Bench) has ordered the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) to reschedule the Arunachal Engineering Service mains exam to a date at least 30 days from 24 September, 2025.
The commission had scheduled the AES mains exam for 28 and 29 September.
Aspirants had approached the court, alleging duplication of 362 candidates in two separate merit lists – one for civil engineering and another for civil & agricultural engineering – which skewed the selection ratio. They objected to using preliminary exam marks to segregate candidates for different departments, claiming it unfairly impacted eligibility.
Out of 166 total vacancies, the APPSC divided 102 posts exclusively for civil engineers and 34 posts where both civil and agricultural engineers were eligible, leading to confusion and exclusion of some eligible candidates.
On 3 September, the court directed the APPSC to allow excluded petitioners from the prelims result to appear in the mains exam, though their results would remain withheld until further notice, adding more candidates who had qualified but were not originally included.
The court took note of procedural irregularities and upheld the petitioners’ claim of being arbitrarily excluded due to flawed segregation.
The commission told the court that it had voluntarily decided to postpone the exam by 30 days to ensure a fair opportunity for all candidates. No matter what the commission says, the fact remains that it did not take into account every aspect required for the conduct of the exam.
With a history of messing up exams as well as allegations of posts being sold, the commission has to be extra careful. Such missteps will not improve the image of the commission, which has been struggling all these years, unable to win back the trust of the people.
The commission needs to be more careful. It should not rush if it wants to make the entire exam process foolproof. It is better to wait than to make mistakes in haste.