Kerala Public Service Commission says baseless allegations being raised as part of deliberate attempt to tarnish its reputation

Published 7 August 2026 · india

The Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC) on Friday issued an elaborate response to various allegations of discrepancies in the examinations and valuation conducted by the

The Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC) on Friday issued an elaborate response to various allegations of discrepancies in the examinations and valuation conducted by the commission in recent weeks. According to the PSC’s statement, signed by Secretary Saju George, the Crime Branch investigation into the complaints related to the examination for the post of Chief (Industries & Infrastructure) in the State Planning Board has led to a trend of “baseless allegations” being constantly raised, including complaints that have been settled in the court. Detailed responses Terming the allegations as part of “a deliberate attempt” to tarnish the reputation of the commission, the PSC has provided detailed responses for 15 allegations that have been raised in recent weeks. Regarding the allegation of destruction of answer sheets of the PSC examinations, it said that the PSC does not permanently preserve answer sheets that do not have any other cases or objections within six months of the publication of the rank-list.

The expired answer sheets are destroyed only after a notice and a press release are issued on the commission’s website. This is a process that the PSC has been following for years. On the revision of the syllabus of the examination for the post of Research Officer in the Department of Economics and Statistics after the publication of the examination calendar, the PSC said that the syllabus is determined on the basis of qualifications to ensure equal justice to all the eligible candidates. The qualifications initially prescribed for the post of the Research Officer did not include a postgraduate degree in Commerce. The qualifications were amended to include a degree in Commerce on June 9, 2025, based on which a revised syllabus was published. The Kerala Administrative Tribunal (KAT) had found the allegations to be baseless.

Regarding to complaint that most answers in the provisional answer key for the post of Research Officer in the Department of Economics and Statistics was option ‘B’, the PSC said that since the preparation of questions is done by subject experts without the knowledge of each other, it is natural that some options are repeated more than once. On the complaint that a candidate who scored high marks in written examination got low marks in the interview for the Chief (Social Services) post in the State Planning Board, the KAT as well as the Kerala High Court and the Supreme Court had found no error on the part of the PSC. On the allegation that a large number of candidates who were included on the rank-list for the post of Fisheries Extension Officer had graduated from Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS), the PSC said that the university from which the candidates obtained their qualifications is not considered at any stage of selection.