Key Points: - The petitioner challenged the UPSC's answer key for Question No. 25 of the 2024 Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, arguing that the correct answer should be option (b) rather than option (c) (!) (!) (!) . - The petitioner alleged that the UPSC's erroneous evaluation of this question resulted in a shortfall of 2.06 marks, causing the petitioner to miss the cut-off for the Mains Examination (!) . - The High Court observed that the UPSC's practice of publishing answer keys after the final results are declared renders candidates remediless (!) . - A coordinate Bench previously granted interim relief allowing the petitioner to appear in the 2025 Indian Forest Service (Main) Examination, with results to be kept in a sealed cover (!) (!) (!) . - The Supreme Court dismissed the UPSC's Special Leave Petition against the interim order, declining to interfere with the High Court's directions (!) (!) . - The petitioner qualified in the written examination for the 2025 batch, as revealed from the sealed cover opened in court (!) . - The Court directed the UPSC to allow the petitioner to appear for the oral interview for the 2025 batch, subject to the petitioner filing an undertaking that this participation creates no equity or right to appointment (!) (!) . - The results of the petitioner's oral interview are to be kept in a sealed cover and presented to the Court at a later date (!) . - The matter is listed for final adjudication on 23.06.2026 (!) .

What is the correctness of the answer key provided by the UPSC for Question No. 25 in the General Studies Paper-I of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, 2024?

What are the rights of a candidate to participate in the Indian Forest Service (Main) Examination and subsequent oral interviews when the final answer key for the preliminary examination is released after the final results are declared?