Mamata Banerjee's new OBC list also hits high court hurdle
KOLKATA: Calcutta HC temporarily stayed Tuesday Bengal govt's new OBC list of 140 sub-groups - 80 Muslim, 60 non-Muslim - till July 31, halting a move that had replaced the earlier 113-group list struck down by the court in May last year.
A division bench of Justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Rajasekhar Mantha paused the June 3 gazette notification and all related state orders, including the portal inviting OBC caste certificate applications. HC found procedural flaws in the state's execution under West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993, after the 2012 law had been adopted.
"The next obvious step after passing the draft notification on OBC laid in the assembly would have been to introduce an amendment to the 2012 Act," said Justice Mantha.
"You complied with the legislative procedure the court ordered in May 2024. But then you abandoned the 2012 Act and took steps under the 1993 Act."
Justice Chakraborty questioned why the state was pushing ahead when the matter was pending before Supreme Court. "Keep your hands off until Supreme Court hears the matter. We are not going to pass any interim order," he said. Supreme Court's next hearing is scheduled for July.
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Bengal govt is weighing a challenge to the temporary stay. "It is an interlocutory order, but there are grounds to appeal. The apex court was informed during the March hearing that a fresh survey was underway," a senior official said.
The new list expanded the number of Muslim sub-groups from 77 to 80 and non-Muslim groups from 36 to 60. CM Mamata Banerjee had defended the formula last week: "Backwardness, not religion, was the sole criterion in the fresh OBC survey in Bengal."
The stay could affect admissions and recruitment as current OBC reservations will drop below 17% without the expanded list.
Senior counsel S Sriram, representing the petitioner, said the executive had no authority under the 2012 Act to declare OBC reservations. "The 2012 Act explicitly states that only the legislature can make provisions for reservation under the Act or Article 16(4) of the Constitution," he said.
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