West Bengal government seeks Supreme Court stay on Calcutta High Court verdict striking down OBC status of several castes

New Delhi: The West Bengal government on Tuesday sought an urgent hearing by the Supreme Court of its appeal against the Calcutta High Court verdict striking down the OBC status of several castes, mostly Muslim groups, in the state for granting them reservation in public sector jobs and admissions in state-run educational institutions.

The top court said it will hear the pleas on the issue on August 27.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state government, told a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra that the high court verdict needed to be stayed as it was affecting the admission of candidates who have cleared the NEET-UG, 2024.

"We need a stay of the high court’s verdict... the issue of scholarships is pending and the NEET admissions will be effected," Sibal said, adding that the plea be heard during the day.

A counsel, representing the state's Other Backward Classes (OBC) panel, said students are lining up for authentication of their OBC status for securing admissions to medical colleges and other institutions.

"We will hear it on Tuesday (August 27)," the CJI said.

The top court had on August 5 asked the state government to provide quantifiable data on social and economic backwardness of fresh castes it has included in the OBC list and on their inadequate representation in public sector jobs.

While issuing notices to the private litigants on the plea of the state government against the high court verdict, it had asked West Bengal to file an affidavit giving details of the consultations, if any, made by it and the state's backward classes panel before including 37 castes, mostly Muslim groups, in the OBC list.

The high court had on May 22 struck down the OBC status of several castes in West Bengal granted since 2010, holding as illegal the reservation for them in public sector jobs and state-run educational institutions.

While striking down the OBC status of these castes, the high court had said, "Religion indeed appears to have been the sole criterion" for declaring these communities as OBCs.

The high court had said that it is of the view that the selection of 77 classes of Muslims as backwards is an "affront to the Muslim community as a whole." Maintaining that this court's mind is not free from doubt that "the said community (Muslims) has been treated as a commodity for political ends," the bench had said, "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." Passing the judgment on petitions challenging the provisions of the state's reservation Act of 2012 and reservations granted in 2010, the high court had clarified that the services of citizens of the struck-down classes, who are already in service or have availed the benefit of reservation or have succeeded in any selection process of the state, will not be affected by the order.

The high court also struck down 37 classes chosen for grant of reservation as OBC under The West Bengal Backward Classes (Other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) (Reservation of Vacancies in Services and Posts) Act, 2012.

While the court had scrapped the 77 classes over "illegality" of reports recommending such classification, other 37 classes were removed from the OBC list for non-consultation by the West Bengal Backward Classes Commission.

The bench had also struck down an executive order of May 11, 2012 creating several sub-classes.

The high court ruled that the directions will take effect prospectively.