Re-Evaluation of Competitive Exams Answer Keys? Supreme Court Reiterates Courts Must Be Reluctant

The Supreme Court has said that courts should presume the answer keys published by an examining authority to be correct and proceed on that basis. Rejecting the plea of candidates who challenged certain answer keys in the Combined Graduate Level Examination, 2023 conducted by the Staff Selection Commission, the Court held that in case of doubt, the benefit must go to the examination authority and not to the candidate.

A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K V Vishwanathan observed that sympathy or compassion has no role to play in such matters. Courts should be very reluctant to direct re-evaluation of answer sheets, the Bench said, relying on the 2018 judgment in Ran Vijay Singh & Ors vs State of Uttar Pradesh & Ors.

The appellants, Shubham Pal and others, had cleared Tier-I of the examination and appeared for Tier-II on October 26, 2023. The commission later published a provisional answer key, asking candidates to check their tentative scores. On November 30, 2023, a revised answer key was issued, and the final results were declared on December 4, 2023. The appellants’ names did not appear in the final list.

They challenged the result before the Delhi High Court, but both the single judge and the division bench refused to grant relief.

Before the Supreme Court, counsel for the appellants argued that four disputed questions were either wrong or had incorrect answer keys. He submitted that the case concerned the entire career of his clients and they should not suffer due to mistakes allegedly committed by the examining body.

The Union government, appearing for the commission, argued that the high court had committed no error. It was also submitted that nearly two years had passed since the results were declared and appointments had already been finalised. Any interference at this stage would create serious difficulties for both selected candidates and the commission, the government said. 

After considering the matter, the Bench said it saw no reason to interfere. Referring again to the principles laid down in Ran Vijay Singh, Court declined to disturb the results.

Court also allowed a separate appeal filed by the Staff Selection Commission against a finding of the single judge, which had been affirmed by the division bench, in relation to one question. Observing the possible consequences of the direction issued by the single judge, the Bench said the appeals filed by the commission deserved to be allowed. 

Case Title: Shubham Pal & Ors Vs Staff Selection Commission & Ors

Bench: Justices J B Pardiwala and K V Vishwanathan 

Date of Judgment: February 3, 2026