Kolkata, Dec 12 : A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court on Friday directed the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) to allow waiting-list teaching candidates from the commissionâ??s 2016 panel to appear for interviews in the fresh recruitment for secondary and higher secondary teachers.

The order of the single-judge bench of Justice Amrita Sinha had two operative parts and specified the limited scope of relief being granted. The first states that only those waiting-list candidates from the 2016 panel who were disqualified from participating in the fresh-recruitment interview because of the age criterion should get the chance to appear.

Similarly, only those waiting-list candidates who have approached the Calcutta High Court seeking a chance to appear in the fresh-recruitment interview process should be allowed the same.

Justice Sinha also directed the WBSSC to submit the marks obtained by the candidates in sealed envelopes to the court. The single-judge bench also sought the Commissionâ??s view on whether the interview process would be video-recorded.

The fresh recruitment follows a division bench of the Supreme Court upholding an earlier order by a division bench of the Calcutta High Court that cancelled the WBSSCâ??s entire 2016 panel of around 26,000 school jobs, both teaching and non-teaching, on grounds of rampant corruption in the recruitment process, where money was paid for jobs.

Earlier this year, the WBSSC conducted written examinations for the fresh recruitment of secondary and higher secondary teachers. Recently, the written-exam results were declared and the list of candidates qualifying for interview was published.

Thereafter, some waiting-list candidates from the 2016 panel, who missed a chance at interview due to crossing the age criterion, approached the Calcutta High Court seeking the opportunity to appear. Many of these candidates had remained on the waiting list pending appointment after the original 2016 process, and they argued that denial of an interview on age grounds alone would be inequitable given the fresh recruitment exercise underway.

Finally, on Friday, the single-judge bench of Justice Sinha directed the WBSSC to allow waiting-list teaching candidates from the commissionâ??s 2016 panel to appear for the interview in the fresh recruitment for secondary and higher secondary teachers.

/IANS