BPSC chairman rules out cancellation of Dec 13 exam, show cause notice served to 34 candidates

Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) Chairman Parmar Ravi Manubhai on Tuesday ruled out cancellation of the 70th Integrated Combined Competitive Examination (CCE) 2024 held earlier this month, which got mired in allegations of question paper leak.

He, however, made it clear that the BPSC was going ahead with a re-examination of candidates who were assigned to the Bapu Pariksha Parisar examination centre on December 13 and disclosed that the re-examination will be held on January 4, 2025.

The BPSC recently cancelled its CCE's preliminary examination held at Bapu Pariksha Parisar in Patna's Kumhrar locality, where an official on duty died of heart attack following a ruckus created by ''unruly'' candidates on December 13.

''There is no question of cancelling the entire BPSC exam held on December 13. The BPSC decided to cancel its preliminary examination held at Bapu Pariksha Parisar centre only due to disruption created by a group of unruly aspirants as part of the conspiracy to disrupt the exam,'' the BPSC chairman told PTI on Tuesday.

The re-examination will be held on January 4 at some other centre in the city with around 12,000 candidates likely to appear for it, he said.

The BPSC has also served show cause notices to 34 aspirants, who were allegedly part of the disruption created at Bapu Pariksha Parisar centre on December 13.

''All 34 students have been asked to reply to the show cause notices by December 26. The commission will examine their replies and then make appropriate decisions. In case of those who fail to submit their replies, the commission will decide based on the available evidence,'' the BPSC chairman said.

A group of aspirants has been demanding the cancellation of the entire exam held on December 13 across the state.

They have been sitting on dharna at Gardani Bagh for the last four to five days.

The protesters contend that cancellation should be ordered across the board since re-examination for just one centre would go against the principle of a ''level-playing field''.

Meanwhile, Bihar Congress Chief, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, on Tuesday visited the protest site and declared his support for the stir.

''Demand of the protesting aspirants is justified,'' Singh told reporters.

Earlier, Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, the Independent MP from Purnea on Monday had visited the site and came out in support.

The Patna district administration had stated that most protesters demanding the cancellation of the December 13 examination at Gardanibagh were non-examinees.

On Monday evening, some of them allegedly entered Gardanibagh Hospital, ''harassing medical staff and damaging property''.

Three people involved in the protests - Rahul Kumar (32) from East Champaran, Ashutosh Anand (35) from Vaishali and Sujit alias Tsunami Guru (40) - are currently being treated at PMCH.

Patna-based tutor and YouTuber Khan Sir who has come out in support of the stir, also met aspirants admitted at the PMCH on Tuesday.

''The protest is being led by non-candidates who are trying to mislead the genuine aspirants for political reasons,'' the Patna DM had said on Monday.

''Some coaching institutes also seem to be behind the protest marked by baseless and provocative statements, aimed at creating law and order problems. All are being identified for strict action,'' the DM had said.

Meanwhile, the Patna police arrested two people for allegedly inciting chaos during the BPSC preliminary examination held at Bapu Pariksha Parisar on December 13.

''A case was registered on December 14 at Agamkuan police station regarding the disruption caused by some examinees during the BPSC exam. Based on technical investigations and CCTV footage from 11 cameras at the centre, we identified and arrested Ashwini Kumar and Mohammad Fayaz,'' the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Patna, Shubhank Mishra, told reporters.

The duo was clearly seen in the footage leaving the exam hall with question papers and encouraging others not to submit theirs, spreading rumours about the exam's cancellation, the SP said.

The police have also issued show cause notices to people belonging to coaching institutes for instigating aspirants protesting at Gardani Bagh police station.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)