The Delhi High Court has issued notice to SSC over its ban on discussing exam papers, calling the gag order “unreasonable.” The Court questioned, “After coming out of the examination hall, the first thing…was to discuss the paper.”
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued a notice to the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging its recent order that banned discussion of SSC question papers by individuals and social media content creators.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela questioned the SSC about the reasoning behind the notification and expressed serious concerns over the restriction.
The Bench remarked,
“You can’t put such a gag order. What is this? You can’t discuss an exam paper? How can you issue such a notification? After coming out of the examination hall, the first thing, at least we used to do in our days, was to discuss the paper.”
The Court directed the SSC to submit its response within three weeks.
The SSC is the national body responsible for conducting exams to recruit staff for various Group B (non-gazetted) and Group C (non-technical) posts across the Indian government, its ministries, and departments.
Every year, lakhs of students appear for SSC exams, making the process widely followed and discussed.
The case before the High Court stems from a PIL filed by Vikas Kumar Mishra. In his plea, Mishra stated that the SSC issued a notice on September 8 under the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, warning action against content creators, social media platforms, and individuals who discuss, analyse, or share SSC exam question papers or their contents in any manner.
Mishra highlighted in his petition,
“Further, while prohibiting the acts of discussion, analysis and dissemination of examination question paper, the aforesaid notice bearing file no. HQ- IT018/4/2024-IT (E-10517) dated 08.09.2025 issued by Respondent No. 2 Commission further clarified that any violation of the said notice shall invite penal action under the provisions of the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 in addition to the other applicable laws.”
The petitioner argued that this notification imposes unreasonable restrictions on the discussion, analysis, and dissemination of question papers from exams conducted by the SSC.
He claimed that such action is
“illegal, arbitrary and perverse and deserves to be quashed since it violates students’ and the public’s right to freedom of speech.”
Mishra further contended,
“The said Notification has been passed contrary to the settled and established principles of law and therefore, deserves to be quashed. Further, the said notice directly seeks to infringe the basic fundamental right of speech and expression as enshrined under Article 19 of the Constitution of India as the same unreasonably restricts discussion of examination which has already been conducted by Respondent No. 2 (SSC).”
The PIL was filed through advocates Suresh Sisodia and Sushant Dogra, who argued that the notification issued by the SSC not only curtails freedom of expression but also unnecessarily restricts public discussion on a matter of widespread interest.
The Delhi High Court’s notice to the SSC marks the beginning of judicial scrutiny over the ban, potentially affecting the way government examination bodies regulate the dissemination of exam-related content in India.
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