Calcutta High Court stays West Bengal's new OBC list

The legal deadlock on the admissions to schools, colleges and universities and recruitment in government jobs in West Bengal continues as Calcutta High Court on Tuesday (June 17) issued an interim stay on the new OBC list notified by the state.

The admission process to the state-run colleges which was to finally begin on Wednesday, almost 40 days after higher secondary results were announced, again got into a legal tangle following the stay.

What caused the HC stay

A new OBC list identifying 140 subgroups was notified by the state government segregating more backward classes and backward classes into A and B categories respectively. The reservation quota for the OBC was also increased from 10 per cent to 17 per cent, allocating 10 per cent for OBC 'A' category and 7 per cent for OBC 'B'. The notification was subsequently passed by the state assembly last week.

A division bench of justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Rajasekhar Mantha stayed the executive order till the next hearing on July 31 observing that the new list was prepared in violation of the court’s earlier order.

The revised list was prepared by including 76 new groups, taking the total number of OBC sub groups in the state to 140. Of these, 79 communities are Muslim, prompting the BJP to allege that the list favoured the minority community.

The new classification was made as the Calcutta High Court in May last year cancelled all OBC certificates issued in the state since 2010, observing that “religion appears to have been the sole criterion” for granting the status.

Also Read: NCBC seeks details from Bengal govt on OBC list amid BJP's charge of appeasement

Impact on recruitment and admission

The cancellation impacted recruitment and admission as there is a question mark on who is to get the OBC benefits.

A few hours before the court stayed the execution of the new list, the state Education Department launched a centralised admission portal for enrolment in higher educational institutions for undergraduate courses in 17 universities and 460 government and government-aided colleges and higher educational institutions.

The court’s decision has put a question mark on the admission process to commence on Wednesday (June 18). Officials of the Education Department however told The Federal that the admission process will not be delayed further because of the court’s order. The admission process will continue without giving the reservation benefits to the new sub-groups added to the OBC list, they said.

Also Read: Backwardness,not religion, is criterion for OBC status: Mamata

Stay on govt’s caste certificate portal

The court also stayed the state government’s decision to open a portal for the submission of caste certificates for adding OBC classes in the new list.

The inclusion of the 76 new groups became a flashpoint as 74 of these sub-groups had previously lost recognition due to the court’s earlier ruling. Sadgope and Nepali Brahmin were the new inclusions in the list.

BJP’s charge

Moreover, the list drew the ire of the BJP as most of the subgroups in the new list are Muslims.

“I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the Hon'ble High Court at Calcutta for the landmark decision to stay the inclusion of 76 Muslim classes in the new OBC list prepared by the Mamata Banerjee Government. This is a resounding victory of the Judiciary against an arrogant State Government that has repeatedly flouted constitutional norms for its narrow political gains,” said BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari.

Before TMC came to power only 20 per cent of OBC classes were Muslim. However, under Mamata Banerjee’s regime, this number has skyrocketed, sidelining deserving Hindu and other non-Muslim Classes who have been historically backward and in need of affirmative action, the BJP leader added.

Also Read: Bengal Cabinet okays inclusion of 76 new castes on OBC list

Counter argument

The allegations that Muslims would benefit from the new list are, however, not subscribed to by many, as several minority communities who were earlier classified as more backward were now shifted to the list of only the backward category.

At least 26 Muslim sub-groups like Shershabadia, Bhangi, Laskar, Tarafdar etc were shifted to the OBC “B” category from the “A” list.

On the other hand, relatively affluent Hindu groups like Goala, Khumbakar, Nath, etc have been shifted to more backward categories.

Also Read: Reservation business like train journey, says SC judge Surya Kant

TMC’s claim

The TMC, however, claimed that the list was prepared by the West Bengal Commission for Backward classes based on a socio-economic survey of the communities and that socio-economic backwardness alone determined eligibility.

The accuracy of the survey also came under scanner as it has been done in less than two months allegedly because the TMC was in a hurry to resolve the issue before the state switches into poll mode for the 2026 assembly elections.

In the process, politics seems to be getting better over social justice.