Bangalore : Candidates, who had been on a 32-day protest after the government scrapped the 2011 KPSC list of 362 gazetted probationers, ended their dharna on Wednesday.

They have now decided to take legal recourse questioning the government’s move in court.

C.S. Dwarakanath, counsel to a group of candidates, said all preparations were being made by a team of legal experts to challenge the government’s decision at a suitable platform, either before the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal or the High Court.

Former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, farmers’ leader Kodihalli Chandrashekar and other leaders from the Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP) also participated in the public rally at Freedom Park on Wednesday.

Slogans against the government’s action ringed the air.

Though the protesters had planned to take a protest march to the Vidhana Soudha, the plan was dropped at the last minute as Police Commissioner M.N. Reddi imposed prohibitory orders around the Vidhana Soudha, and denied permission for the protest.

The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday allowed some of the candidates, selected to the posts of Group ‘A’ and ‘B’ gazetted probationers in the 1998, 1999 and 2004 batches, to be impleaded in the PIL petitions related to alleged irregularities in selection process conducted by the Karnataka Public Service Commission.

A Division Bench comprising Justice N. Kumar and Justice Ratnakala passed the order when the PILs came up for hearing before it after Chief Justice D.H. Waghela last week had recused himself from hearing the petitions, filed in 2012 by a group of candidates who were unsuccessful in the selection process.

Observing that selected candidates are a necessary party, the Bench also directed the State to implead other selected candidates, who have been working in various departments after being appointed to the government service, based on their selection made by the KPSC. Around 600 candidates were selected and appointed to government service in these three batches. The Bench also permitted the government to issue a public notice, if necessary, in this regard.