Ranchi, May 6: Jharkhand High Court today paved the way for the state government to appoint 269 successful candidates of the fifth Jharkhand State Public Services Commission (JPSC) exam held in 2015.

The court heard a PIL over alleged irregularities and a petition by a disabled candidate over inadequate appointments of the physically challenged and subsequently lifted the stay order on JPSC appointments it clamped this March.

The dispute regarding the exam held by the JPSC came under high court scanner in a PIL filed by one Pradeep Karan Siddharth, who alleged foul play in the correction of optional marking reader (OMR) sheets of candidates.

Siddharth, a former IPS officer pleading on behalf of students, alleged there was a lot of corruption within the JPSC and that only influential candidates got government jobs.

Pointing out the fifth JPSC mains was marred by controversies, he said the question paper was published in 2014 itself. The PIL alleged the optical marking reader (OMR) sheets of 520 candidates were not evaluated properly by the JPSC and that students had lost 30 minutes of exam time due to chaos over their seating plan that wasn't compensated later.

Siddharth argued candidates did not know where to sit and it was the JPSC's duty to identify the seats before exams began.

Defending the JPSC, senior advocate Anil Kumar Sinha and advocate Sanjay Piprawal said there was no confusion in marking OMR sheets. Candidates were explained how to mark their sheets prior to the exams by invigilators, they explained.

Moreover, JPSC advocates said the matter didn't involve public interest. If an individual candidate was aggrieved over JPSC's decision, he or she could challenge their independent result before high court in a separate writ petition, they said.

The high court also heard the petition challenging the fifth JPSC exams by Vivek Kumar Singh, a physically challenged candidate.

Earlier, Vivek's counsel Suchitra Pandey had pointed out that JPSC had not appointed enough handicapped candidates according to reservation quota under Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995. The court issued a stay on appointments on March 16 seeking a response from the government and the commission.

Today, the high court ordered the JPSC to ensure the appointment backlog of candidates in the handicapped category was completed in the sixth JPSC exams. The state government and commission assured the court it would be done. The petition was disposed.