Seeking Stay Of HC Judgment Scrapping OBC Classifications, West Bengal Govt Tells Supreme Court

The West Bengal Government on Tuesday (August 20) told the Supreme Court that it was seeking stay of the Calcutta High Court's judgment which quashed the classification of seventy seven communities as Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the State, mentioned the matter before Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud today at 2 PM when the Court assembled after the lunch break. Sibal said that since the matter is not likely to be taken up today, it may be posted to a nearer date. The senior counsel submitted that the State was seeking a stay of the High Court's judgment as several persons were waiting in line to get admissions and jobs.

CJI Chandrachud said that the matter can be taken up on next Tuesday, August 27. Senior Advocate Indira Jaising, also representing the State, requested that the matter may be listed on the top of the board as it might require a day-long hearing. Senior Advocate Jaideep Gupta represented the West Bengal Backward Classes Commission.

On August 5, while issuing notice on the State's Special Leave Petition, the Court had sought for the data regarding the survey undertaken to classify the 77 communities as OBCs and the details of the consultation with the State Backward Classes Commission. 

It was in May this year that the High Court delivered the verdict which has the potential to impact nearly 5 lakh OBC certificates issued after 2010. The High Court observed that the OBC classifications were made without proper study and adequate data.

The Court clarified that those who had attained employment on the benefit of the act and were already in service because of such reservation would not be affected by the order.

The High Court also observed that majority of the classes declared as OBCs were Muslims. In this regard, it observed :

"This Court is of the view that the selection of 77 classes of Muslims as Backward is an affront to the Muslim Community as a whole. This Court's mind is not free from doubt that the said community has been treated as a commodity for political ends. This is clear from the chain of events that led to the classification of the 77 Classes as OBCs and their inclusion to be treated as a vote bank. Identification of the classes in the aid community as OBCs for electoral gains would leave them at the mercy of the concerned political establishment and may defeat and deny other rights. Such reservation is therefore also an affront to Democracy and the Constitution of India as a whole"

Case Details : THE STATE OF WEST BENGAL AND ANR. Versus AMAL CHANDRA DAS Diary No. - 27287/2024