A writ petition was filed with the High Court on Wednesday seeking  its directive to postpone the 50th Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) preliminary examination scheduled for January 30.

The petition was filed by Enamul Haque and three other candidates before the relevant bench of the High Court, said petitioners’ lawyer Nazmus Sakib.

Secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration, Chairman, Secretary and Controller of Examinations of the PSC and the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) were made respondents in the petition.

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The petition sought a stay on the preliminary examination and disposal of a memorandum submitted earlier requesting postponement of the exam.

On January 20, Enamul Haque along with a group of job aspirants submitted a memorandum to the PSC chairman demanding that all examinations be postponed during the election period to facilitate election campaigning.

As no response was received from the authorities, the four candidates moved the High Court by filing the writ petition.

The petitioners said they are seeking postponement of all government job examinations from January 21 to February 12 to allow them to campaign for a ‘yes’ vote in the upcoming referendum and ensure the participation of young voters in the election.

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According to PSC sources, a total of 290,951 candidates have applied for the 50th BCS examination.

Through the recruitment process, 2,150 candidates are to be appointed to cadre and non-cadre posts. Of the 1,755 cadre posts, up to 650 are allocated for the health cadre, 200 for the administration cadre and 117 for the police cadre.