The State Of Tamil Nadu vs G. Hemalathaa

The Supreme Court upheld the High Court's decision to direct the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission to evaluate the Respondent's Law Paper-1 examination results, despite the Commission's invalidation based on Instruction 22(1)(II) prohibiting the use of pencil. The Court established that inadvertent marking should not lead to disqualification if no advantage was gained, reinforcing the principle of leniency in examination conduct. The outcome was a remand for the Commission to assess the Respondent's performance fairly and conduct an interview if qualified.