Telangana HC annuls Group-I exam results, orders re-evaluation

Hyderabad: In a key judgment on Group-I Main examination, the Telangana High Court on Tuesday annulled the results and ordered re-evaluation of answer sheets.

Justice Namavarapu Rajeswara Rao set aside the general ranking list and the list of selected candidates.

The High Court pronounced the orders on the petitions of some candidates, alleging irregularities in the conduct of the exam and the evaluation of answer sheets.

About 30,000 students had appeared in the Group 1 Mains exams conducted by the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) from October 21 to 27, 2024. The results were announced on March 10, 2025, and subsequently, a general ranking list and a list of selected candidates were released.

The single-judge bench, which had reserved its orders in July, pronounced the same on Tuesday. It directed the TSPSC to complete the process of re-evaluation and declaration of results in eight months.

The court made it clear that if re-evaluation of answer scripts is not done, the Main exams will stand cancelled and a re-exam will be conducted for all candidates who passed the Prelims.

It observed that the Supreme Court guidelines in the Sanjay Singh versus UPSC case were not followed in the evaluation of answer scripts.

The court ordered re-valuation through the ‘moderation’ system, which is an accepted method of evaluation in competitive exams.

During the hearing, the court had questioned the use of non-Telugu evaluators. On TGPSC’s decision to appoint evaluators from outside the state, the judge asked whether they could effectively assess answer scripts written in Telugu.

Reacting to the High Court order, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader and former Minister T. Harish Rao termed it a slap on the face of the state government. “In the backdrop of doubts over exam center allocations, issuance of hall tickets, suspicions in exam results, and allegations of malpractices, the verdict given by the High Court today is a slap in the face for the state government,” he posted on ‘X’.

Harish Rao alleged that the government was playing with the lives of students by conducting exams in a flawed manner. He sought a response from Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy to the High Court order.

“Due to your negligence in hastily conducting exams and indulging in irregularities, students and the unemployed are suffering. The Congress government, which makes empty promises, lacks even the basic competence to conduct exams properly,” he said.

TGSPSC conducted Group-I Main examinations in October last year to fill 563 Group-I posts in various departments of the state government, amid controversy over a government order tweaking the reservation rules.

The Telangana High Court had refused to order postponement of the exams, and the Supreme Court had also dismissed the petitions challenging the High Court order.

A total of 31,383 candidates had applied for the exams. These candidates qualified for the Group-1 Mains examination out of around 3.02 lakh who appeared for the preliminary examination held in June.

This was the first time after the formation of Telangana State that Group-I Mains exams were held. The last time the exams were conducted was in 2011.

The Group-1 prelims have been marred by controversies over paper leaks and legal battles for not following the norms and irregularities in 2022 and 2023.

Conducting the Group-I Main and other competitive exams to fill the vacancies was a key promise made by the Congress party in the Assembly elections held in November 2023.

IANS