New Delhi: The Delhi High Court today directed the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to reveal the cut-off marks obtained by candidates in the preliminary test of the Civil Services Examination.

A High Court Bench comprising Chief Justice A.P. Shah and Justice S. Muralidhar upheld an earlier order which said that disclosing the cut-off marks would not harm the interest of either the UPSC or any third party.

The HC Bench also rejected UPSC's argument that the information regarding the cut-off marks would be misused by coaching institutes and hamper the chances of meritorious students of making it to the merit list.

Upholding the April 17, 2007, order passed by the single judge bench favouring the Central Information Commission (CIC)'s decision, which had held that disclosure of information pertaining to cut-off marks would not harm the interest of the UPSC or any third party, the bench dismissed a petition filed by the UPSC against the single judge's order.

It also dismissed the UPSC's apprehension that by disclosing the working of the scaling methodology for the preliminary examination, merit can be compromised and candidates with less merit would be selected. It said: "We are of the view that the apprehension of UPSC is not well founded."

The UPSC had approached the court against the November 13, 2006 order passed by the CIC allowing the pleas of candidates seeking details of the marks obtained by them in preliminary exam and sought separate details of cut-off marks for every subject.