The Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB) informed the Delhi High Court on Friday that it had decided to permit Sikh candidates to take examinations while wearing a metallic kirpan or kara (bangle), provided that they arrived at the testing location at least an hour prior to the reporting time. The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee filed a plea, and a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad decided to dismiss it after considering the arguments made by the DSSSB’s legal representatives (DSGMC). The bench took notice of the board’s newly released instructions, which make it plain that it has decided to permit Sikh candidates to take the exam while wearing a kara and kirpan.
However, to take the exam, those individuals must arrive at the testing location at least one hour before the reporting time. The court stated, “It is evident (from the instructions) that any candidate will not be permitted to attend the exam if he or she is found carrying any suspicious object in kara or kirpan during screening.
A high court judge had already ruled in July that it was “unsustainable” to bar a Sikh woman candidate from taking a competitive exam until she took off her metallic kara, even though she arrived at the testing location before the closing time specified on the admit card. The petitioner woman argued that the decision by the authorities cannot be upheld because there was already a notification instructing candidates wishing to wear a kara and/or kirpan to arrive at the examination centre at least one hour before the reporting time as it was notified two days after the examination was held. The petitioner woman had challenged the denial of permission to her to appear in the PGT-Economics (Female) examination.
The lone judge had stated that it was “very unfortunate” that a specialist organisation like DSSSB, which routinely conducts exams with a substantial number of Sikh candidates attending, did not move promptly to tell the candidates about the criteria linked to the two Sikh religious symbols. In order to prevent undue hardship for candidates who are wearing a kara and/or kirpan, the court then ordered the DSSSB to make sure that adequate notice—which is given well in advance—is given regarding the additional requirement to arrive at the examination centre one hour before the reporting time.
