The Calcutta High Court Wednesday cancelled all Other Backward Class (OBC) certificates issued by the West Bengal government since 2010. Hours later, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she will not accept the order, and OBC reservation will continue in the state.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation challenging provisions of the West Bengal Backward Classes (Other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) (Reservation of Vacancies in Services and Posts) Act, 2012.
Setting aside the classification of 37 communities as OBC, the Bench said, “We strike down section 16 of the Act of 2012 since it empowers the State Executive to amend any schedule of the Act of 2012. Consequently, the 37 classes included under exercise of section 16 are struck out of schedule 1 of the Act of 2012.”
The number of persons enlisted under OBC in the state after 2010 is likely to be above five lakh, a lawyer representing the petitioners said.
The division bench of Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Rajasekhar Mantha, however, clarified that citizens with OBC certificates who are are already in service, or have availed the benefit of reservation or succeeded in any selection process of the state, will not be affected by the order.
The Bench said the opinion and advice of the Backward Classes Commission is ordinarily binding on the state legislature under the National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993.
The bench directed the Backward Classes Welfare Department of the state, in consultation with the Commission, to place a report before the legislature with recommendations on inclusion of new classes or for exclusion of remaining classes in the state list of OBCs.
The division bench clarified that the executive orders of the state government classifying 66 classes of OBC before 2010 were not interfered with, since these were not challenged in the petitions.
A prayer by the state for a stay of the order was rejected by the bench.
Section 16 of the 2012 Act, which the court struck down, allows the state government, simply by order, to “add, amend or alter” the schedule containing Backward Classes. The 1999 landmark Indra Sawhney judgement (on the implementation of OBC quota) had mandated quantifiable data on backwardness to include castes in the OBC list. “Inclusion of castes in the list of Backward Classes cannot be mechanical and cannot be done without adequate relevant data. Nor can it be done for extraneous reasons,” the court had said.
Speaking to ANI later, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, “The Mamata Banerjee government, without conducting any proper survey or process, gave OBC reservation to 118 Muslim communities. Some went to court against this. The High Court took notice of the matter and cancelled all such certificates issued between 2010 to 2024. Because of her vote bank policy, Mamata Banerjee snatched reservation meant for OBC category and gave it to Muslims. I welcome the court order.”
Speaking at an election rally, Banerjee said, “I heard a judge passed an order, who has been famous. PM has been talking about how minorities will snatch away Tapashili reservation. How can this ever happen? It would lead to Constitutional breakdown. Minorities can never touch the Tapashili or Adivasi reservation. But these mischievous people (BJP) get their work done through agencies.” The TMC came to power in 2011 and the High Court order virtually invalidates lakhs of OBC certificates issued by the state government.
“They got an order passed today but I don’t accept it. When 26,000 people lost their jobs because of the BJP, I had said that I would not accept it. Similarly, I am telling today, I do not accept the order today. We won’t accept BJP’s order. OBC reservation will continue. Imagine their audacity. This is a kalankit chapter in the country,” she said.
“This (OBC reservation) was passed in cabinet, Assembly, and there is a court verdict on the same. They are doing games ahead of elections… They are doing this just for vote politics,” she said.
Shah, however, said, “Mamata ji said she won’t accept the High Court order. Can a person holding a constitutional position say that he will not accept a court order? I strongly condemn this. We will ensure that the court order is executed and people belonging to the OBC category get their rights. Those who do not belong to the OBC category must not enjoy the reservation because of appeasement politics.”
He said other INDIA bloc parties have done the same. “Congress has done it in Karnataka and Telangana. We strongly oppose this. BJP believes that there can be no reservation based on religion. The Constitution does not allow that,” he said. – With PTI inputs