HC questions UP service selection board on interviews

The Allahabad High Court has asked the Uttar Pradesh Secondary Education Service Selection Board to file its reply on a petition alleging "serious discrepancies" in interviews conducted for recruitment to the posts of Assistant Teachers for English subject.
The court has also directed the Board to disclose "the criteria on which marks are awarded in the interview" in the counter affidavit and made it clear that "any appointment made on the basis of the impugned selection, shall be subject to the decision on the writ petition".
A single judge bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta passed the order on March 30 on the petition of Shanno Rani who had challenged the selection list declared by the Board in September last year.

The petitioner had submitted that she had secured "very good marks in the written examination but given only 22 marks in the interview" whereas many candidates whose score was much less compared in the written tests "have been given maximum possible marks in the interview".
Observing that "there appears to be some force in the contention raised by learned counsel for the petitioner", the court fixed April 18 as the next date of hearing in the matter.