The Supreme Court will on Monday hear a plea seeking postponement of the UPSC civil services preliminary examination 2020 due to the rising cases of coronavirus infections in the country. A three-judge bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar will hear the plea.

The plea has been filed by 20 UPSC civil services aspirants. The UPSC civil services exam 2020 is presently scheduled for October 4.

On September 24, the apex Court had asked advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava, appearing for the petitioners, to serve a copy of the petition to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and Centre.

The petitioners hailing from various parts of the country have told the Court that holding exams in the present circumstances will pose a risk to the health and safety of candidates.

About six lakh aspirants are expected to appear in the offline 7-hour examination to be conducted at centres across 72 cities in the country.

A fresh application in the case has also been filed on behalf of an Assistant Commandant of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) who is to appear in the examination. The applicant has also sought postponement of the preliminary examination. The petition said that holding the exam will discriminate among candidates from majorly affected states and others, where Covid-19 cases are less.

The exam was earlier scheduled for May 31 but was postponed due to the pandemic. On June 5, UPSC came out with a revised examination schedule setting October 4 as the new date for holding the examination.