West Bengal government informed the Supreme Court that the State’s Backward Classes Commission is embarking on a fresh exercise to identify Socially and Educationally Backward Communities (SEBC) who warrant inclusion in the State’s Other Backward Classes (OBC) List.
| Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma
The West Bengal government informed the Supreme Court on Tuesday (March 18, 2025) that the State’s Backward Classes Commission is embarking on a fresh exercise to identify Socially and Educationally Backward Communities (SEBC) who warrant inclusion in the State’s Other Backward Classes (OBC) List.
The State had appealed the Supreme Court against a Calcutta High Court judgment striking down its policy to include several castes, largely Muslim communities, in the OBC List.
The Calcutta High Court had concluded that religion was the “sole criterion for declaring these communities as OBC”. It had found the “selection of 77 classes of Muslims as backwards an affront to the Muslim community as a whole”.
“The West Bengal Backward Classes Commission is undertaking a fresh exercise to identify sections who require reservation,” senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the State, addressed a Bench headed by Justice B.R. Gavai.
The Bench listed the case after three months, in July.
In an earlier hearing, the top court had asked the State to clarify the nature and scope of the survey undertaken to identify the social and educational backwardness of these communities, and their inadequacy of representation in the State public services which warranted their inclusion in the List.
The court had also asked the State to respond to allegations that no meaningful consultations were held by the State with the West Bengal Backward Classes Commission before the designation of these communities as OBCs.
The court had sought West Bengal to clarify whether consultation was done while sub-classifying these castes for the purpose of reservation.
The High Court judgment had at the time impacted five lakh OBC certificates issued in the State since 2010. The High Court had however clarified that its judgment would not impact individuals who had already secured employment using the OBC certificates issued since 2010. It had struck down portions of the West Bengal Backward Classes (Other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) (Reservation of Vacancies in Services and Posts) Act, 2012.
Among the Sections nullified were Section 16, the second part of Section 2(h), and Section 5(a) of the Act, which distributed reservation percentages of 10% and 7% to the sub-classified categories. Consequently, the sub-classified categories OBC-A and OBC-B were removed from Schedule I of the Act.
Published – March 18, 2025 05:01 pm IST