Kolkata, May 19 (IANS): Calcutta High Court's division bench of Justice Harish Tandon on Thursday recused itself from hearing two important cases pertaining to West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) recruitment scam.

The first case in this matter is relating to deployment of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in charge of the security of WBSSC office to prevent tampering of any evidence. At around midnight on Wednesday, a single- judge bench of Justice Avijit Gangopadhyay passed the order relating to deployment of CRPF personnel at WBSSC office.

On Thursday morning, the West Bengal government approached the division bench of Justice Tandon seeking a stay on the single-judge bench order on this count. However, Justice Tandon's bench recused itself from hearing the matter.

At the same time, former state education minister and Trinamool Congress secretary general Partha Chatterjee on Thursday morning, also approached the division bench seeking a stay on the order of the same single- judge bench of Justice Gangopadhyay directing Partha Chatterjee to face to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) interrogation pertaining to the scam.

It is learnt that as per protocol, now both the cases have been referred back to Calcutta High Court chief justice, Prakash Srivastava, who will decide about the alternative division bench where the cases can be referred to.