At 9.30am on Thursday, several IIM aspirants would have turned up for the most important interview of their life. But neither the interviewees nor the interviewers are sure of what is in store.

With Calcutta High Court staying the interviews of candidates from the Other Backward Castes (OBC) category, confusion reigned on the Joka campus on Wednesday evening. The candidates were selected on the basis of their Common Admission Test scores.

“The decision on the eve of the interview caught us unawares. The institute was closed today and we did not know that the case had come up for hearing,” said Dinesh Varma, the chief administrative officer of IIM Calcutta.

The authorities, though aware that they cannot conduct the interview after the order, have adopted a wait-and-watch policy.

“We can’t take a decision before going through a copy of the order. We also need to discuss this with our lawyers,” said Subrata Mitra, the chairman (admissions) of IIM Calcutta.

While some teachers suggested going ahead with the interview, as a copy of the order is yet to reach the campus, most preferred moving the court early on Thursday to vacate the stay. “The HRD ministry is also a party to the case and we are awaiting their response, too” said a teacher.

Following a notification from the human resource development ministry to implement the 27 per cent OBC quota from the 2008 academic session, the institute had decided to bring all the shortlisted candidates to the Joka campus for the final round of selection for the postgraduate course through group discussions and personal interviews.

Sources said IIM Calcutta had called 26 candidates, of whom around 20 have come down to the campus.

“I learnt about the court order from my parents, who called me soon after I reached Joka around 5pm. I ran around the campus trying to confirm the news but all the offices were closed. We have no clue whether the interview will be held,” said a 21-year-old techie from Mumbai.

The institute was closed for the day because of the panchayat elections.

In the evening, most of the candidates were seen huddled in the computer centre trying to get more information about the latest obstacle to their admission into an IIM.

“Every time the matter moves towards a resolution, another stumbling block comes up. It is very frustrating. You put your work on hold to come for the interview and now all you can do is speculate,” said a candidate.

The high court granted the stay on a petition by Sayan Guha, a BBA student. The matter will come up for hearing again on June 9.