New Delhi, October 4: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has informed the Supreme Court that it will begin releasing provisional answer keys after the Civil Services Preliminary Examination, a move aimed at increasing transparency in the recruitment process.
The decision, conveyed in an affidavit, signals a departure from the commission’s earlier practice of publishing answer keys only after the completion of the year-long recruitment cycle. Provisional keys will allow candidates to raise objections or representations, which will be reviewed by a team of subject experts before final keys are released alongside the final results.
The affidavit was filed in response to a petition by Himanshu Kumar, represented by senior advocates Devadatt Kamat, Rajesh G. Inamdar, and Shashwat Anand, who argued that the delayed release of answer keys undermined transparency and fairness in the examination process.
However, the affidavit did not clarify retrospective remedies for candidates who appeared in the CSE 2025 prelims in May, where no provisional keys were provided, leaving uncertainty over re-evaluation or objection windows.
The development follows an earlier petition filed on Aug. 11, 2025, by 28 aspirants challenging the UPSC’s “opaque” answer key policy. A Supreme Court bench headed by Justice P.S. Narasimha is now considering comprehensive guidelines for future exams, including timelines for answer key releases and objection mechanisms.
