Allahabad High Court permits UP PSC mains exam on September 28–29 but stays the result due to merit list controversy, ensuring candidates’ preliminary exam concerns are addressed before final selection.
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UTTAR PRADESH: In a crucial development for government job aspirants in Uttar Pradesh, a Division Bench of the Allahabad High Court has allowed the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UP PSC) mains examination to go ahead on September 28 and 29, 2025. The bench, comprising Justices Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Anish Gupta, stayed a single-judge order that had postponed the exam.
The case arose after several candidates challenged the preliminary exam merit list prepared by the UP PSC for recruitment to key posts, including Assistant Engineer (Civil/Mechanical), District Horticulture Officer, Food Processing Officer, and Senior Technical Assistants.
Background
On September 25, 2025, Single-Judge Justice Ajit Kumar ordered the postponement of the UP PSC mains exam, citing discrepancies in the preliminary examination merit list.
Petitioners highlighted that the May 2025 merit list had shortlisted only 7,358 candidates for 609 posts, roughly 12 times the advertised vacancies, while the recruitment advertisement mandated 15 times the advertised posts to qualify for the mains exam.
Concerns were also raised by candidates from reserved categories, who claimed that even with higher scores, they were excluded from the unreserved/open category in the merit list. Justice Ajit Kumar agreed that any reserved category candidate scoring equal to or higher than an unreserved candidate should automatically qualify under the open category, directing the UP PSC to redraw the merit list before conducting the mains exam.
Division Bench‘s Intervention
The single judge’s order was challenged before the High Court’s Division Bench. On Friday, September 26, 2025, the bench stayed the directive to revise the preliminary merit list and allowed the mains exam to proceed. However, the court clarified that the results of the mains exam cannot be published or announced until the next hearing in October, ensuring that the concerns regarding the merit list are addressed before final selection.
The bench’s order came following the mentioning of the matter by Senior Advocate Anoop Trivedi.
Case Title:
Rajat Maurya and ors. v State of UP
WRIT – A No. – 8788 of 2025
Read Order (Single-Judge):
