Delhi High Court notice to UPSC, Government over mandatory English Aptitude Test

Delhi High Court issued notice to UPSC and Central Department of Personnel and Training on Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on 2 February 2012 challenging its decision to make English compulsory for candidates opting for a language other than English as the medium for writing the Central Civil Services examinations.

A bench of the Court which includes Acting Chief Justice A K Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw sought responses from UPSC and Government, on a petition filed by Dina Nath Batra, seeking their stands by March 14.

The petitioner contended that the new test paper ‘English Language Comprehension Skills' is disadvantageous for a majority of Indian candidates who had opted for their mother-tongue for writing the exams.

The petitioner's counsel, Jagdeep Dhankad, said that till 2010, candidates to the IAS pre-examination were required to answer two objective type question papers; one for General Knowledge and other on a subject of his/her choice. From 2011, the Union Government introduced a new pattern of the prelims wherein the candidates were expected to take an aptitude test which includes a compulsory topic of "English Comprehension Skills" comprising nine questions of 2.5 marks each.

The petitioner submitted that the UPSC's decision to make the test compulsory is discriminatory for candidates who have done their education in their mother tongues as compared to candidates who preferred English as medium.

The petitioner urged the Delhi High Court to make void the order issued by the Department making English compulsory for all the candidates aspiring for Civil Services Exam irrespective of the language they opted for writing the examination.