The 1,100 odd candidates who had arrived in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, were in for a shock when they were first and foremost asked to take their clothes off, including their vests. The young men proceeded to take the army recruitment examination for clerical posts in their underwear.

According to an Indian Express report, the move was made to save the time needed to frisk so many people. Officials had decided this to be the best procedure to eradicate any instances of cheating using scraps of papers hidden in clothes, in a state renowned for the act.

Recently, Bihar had come in the news in a case of mass cheating, involving even the guardians and invigilators, in the class 12 examinations of the Bihar School Examination Board. Besides, last year, in yet another mass cheating case involving class 10 students, guardians and relatives were even seen to be scaling the exam centre wall in order to pass their wards chits of paper to cheat from.

"We conduct thorough frisking and ensure that candidates carry minimum external things to the exam centre," said Army Regional Office director Colonel V. S. Godhara to the newspaper.

When asked whether such an arrangement for the examination was specific to the state, Col Godhara said, "Nothing is state-specific".

The written test conducted on Sunday, February 28, in which 1,159 candidates appeared. Of them, 775 candidates were in the general duty category, while 173 were from the technical category. The physical and medical tests had already been conducted from February 4 to February 12.

The one-hour test took place amidst complaints of feeling cold, with candidates sitting cross-legged on the ground in their briefs and using their thighs as tables.

Pictures depicting this scenario drew attention of the Patna High Court, which has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL). The case will be heard at the court, today.

Though locals have attributed this kind of examination arrangement as having been conducted for the second time, the procedure has been termed by a senior official as an "administrative lapse".

The Army officer, requesting anonymity, said, "There is no question of the Army conducting a written test in this manner. It is only during physical tests and medical exams that candidates are asked to remove their clothes. The written test is a test of the mental faculty anyway, and making candidates appear for that in their underwear amounts to an administrative lapse".

Before the commencement of the Board examinations, strict steps had been taken in order to curb cheating in the state, including setting up CCTV cameras in some classrooms, along with live streaming in certain examination centres. (Read: Bihar steps against exam cheating: Extra security, CCTV cameras arranged)

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