UPSC 3RD RANKER IN DOCK FOR ‘FAKE’ DISABILITY

HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad high court on Tuesday issued notices to Gopalakrishna Ronanki, who was ranked third in the civil services examination this year, to prove the disability certificate that he submitted to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) while appearing for the examination, was genuine.

The high court was acting on a public interest litigation petition filed by advocate M Muralikrishna. A division bench headed by Justice Ramesh Ranganathan also served notices to the UPSC and the Andhra Pradesh government, asking them for reports within three weeks.

Muralikrishna alleged that Ronanki, who belongs to the Other Backward Castes, submitted a fake certificate stating he has 45% disability to the UPSC while applying for the civil services exam last year.

While the cut-off marks for qualifying for the Mains examination for OBC candidates was 110.66, Ronanki could get only 91.34. He had not qualified for the Mains under the quota.

“However, the cut-off mark for physically challenged candidates was 75.34 and since Ronanki had produced the physically challenged certificate, he got qualified for the Mains,” the advocate said in the PIL.

“But, Ronanki’s disability is not so grave as to declare him physically challenged. It is a fake certificate.”

Muralikrishna also argued that disabled candidates get an extra one hour for writing the Mains exam. “While all the other candidates had to complete the examination within three hours, Ronanki had taken four hours,” he said.