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Time of India
a day ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Apex court lifts HC stay on West Bengal OBC list
NEW DELHI: In a major relief to Mamata Banerjee government , the Supreme Court on Monday lifted the Calcutta HC stay on implementation of the new list of OBC sub-groups, including 80 belonging to the Muslim community, and said it is well settled that the Executive can notify such a list without passing a legislation. On June 17, the HC had stayed the new OBC List entitling to quota benefits 140 sub-groups under OBC-A and OBC-B categories. The earlier list, which was struck down by HC, had 113 OBC sub-groups, with 77 from the Muslim community and 36 from others. The appeal of the Bengal govt challenging the quashing of the earlier list is still pending before the SC. Appearing for the state, senior advocate Kapil Sibal said the stay has put the govt in a piquant position as it faces the task of recruiting 40,000 teachers and preparing a roster. A bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and N V Najaria said, "Prima facie the HC order is erroneous. A 9-judge constitution bench of the SC has settled the law and ruled that List of sub-groups for availing quota can be notified by the Executive without a legislation". On a petition by one Amal Chandra Das challenging the new OBC list, an HC bench of Justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Rajasekhar Mantha had on June 17 directed that executive notifications issued between May 8 and June 13 about OBC categories will not go into effect till July 31. The SC bench said: "How the HC stay the notification without giving reasons? It is in the teeth of a constitution bench judgment of the SC. If you all agree, we can request the HC chief justice to assign the matter to a special bench, other than the judges who heard the matter, and decide the issue on merits". Appearing for the petitioners, senior advocates Ranjit Kumar and Guru Krishna Kumar said the HC has not imposed any stay on the implementation of OBC reservations based on the list existing prior to 2010, which had 66 sub-groups. "It is the state which has enacted legislation laying down the procedure for inclusion and exclusion of sub-groups from OBC List. Once the procedure is laid down in law, it must be followed scrupulously, which the govt didn't, thus, inviting a stay from the HC," they said. "The state law mandates that the State Backward Class Commission is to be consulted, which was not done by the state. No survey was undertaken to identify the sub-groups which should be included. What they did was to reintroduce the list of sub-groups whose inclusion was quashed by the HC earlier," they held. Sibal, on the other hand, said a survey was done and 76 new sub-groups were added to the earlier list. The petitioner had not challenged the survey done for this purpose, he said.
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Bengal Education minister hails SC order to stay HC decision on OBC list implementation
Kolkata, West Bengal Education minister Bratya Basu on Monday hailed the Supreme Court's order to stay the Calcutta High Court's decision, which had stalled the implementation of a revised list of Other Backward Classes notified by the state government. Bengal Education minister hails SC order to stay HC decision on OBC list implementation The minister said the state government was ready to take appropriate action immediately. "Prima facie, the high court order seems to be erroneous," said a bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria on Monday while hearing the appeal of the state government. Basu in a post on X handle, said, "Today's stay in the Hon'ble Supreme Court is a moral victory of the OBC policy of our Hon' ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee." "We in the Higher Education department had already anticipated this and are fully prepared to take appropriate actions immediately," the minister said. WBJEE Board Chairperson Sonali Chakraborty Banerjee had earlier told PTI that the board was ready to publish the results and made all arrangements to announce the same in the first week of July itself but as the issue became sub-judice afterwards it would wait for direction from the Higher Education department before taking any step in this regard. On June 17, the Calcutta High Court ordered an interim stay on notifications issued by the state government with regard to reservations to 140 subsections under OBC-A and OBC-B categories made by it. At the outset, the Supreme Court bench took note of the submissions of senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state government, and said, "This is surprising. How can the High Court pass such an order? Reservation is part of the executive function." The state had prepared the new list after the high court, in May 2024, quashed the inclusion of as many as 77 communities in the OBC list. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
News18
a day ago
- Politics
- News18
Prima facie erroneous: SC stays Calcutta HC order on West Bengal OBC list
New Delhi, Jul 28 (PTI) In a relief to the West Bengal government, the Supreme Court on Monday stayed the June 17 Calcutta High Court decision that stalled the implementation of a revised list of Other Backward Classes (OBCs). 'Prima facie, the high court order seems to be erroneous," said a bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and N V Anjaria while hearing the state's appeal. The CJI suggested if parties were willing, he would request the high court chief justice to set up a fresh bench to decide the issue in a stipulated time frame like within a six weeks time. The bench earlier took note of the submissions of senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state government, and said, 'This is surprising. How can the high court pass such an order? Reservation is part of the executive function." Referring to certain parts of the impugned judgment, the CJI pointed out that the directions issued needed to be interpreted in totality. The CJI said, 'We will issue notice in this. This is surprising. How can the high court stay like this? Reservation is part of the executive functions. This is the settled law right from the Indira Sawhney (Mandal judgement), the position is that the executive can do it." The bench said executive instructions were enough to provide reservations and a legislation was not necessary. 'We are surprised… What is the high court's reasoning?" the CJI asked. Sibal sought a stay on the high court order, saying it had stalled appointments of teachers and others. Senior advocates Ranjit Kumar and Guru Krishnakumar, appearing for respondents, opposed the plea for a stay of the high court order. Krishnakumar said the state was free to provide reservation by an executive order but there were judgements, which say if there is a legislative framework governing it, rigours of the law have to be followed. He said the new OBC list was prepared without any data. Sibal, however, submitted the new list was prepared on the basis of a fresh survey and report by the State Backward Classes Commission. 'Issue notice. In the meantime, there shall be a stay to the impugned order," the top court held. A division bench of the high court on June 17 ordered an interim stay on notifications issued by the state government with regard to reservations to 140 subsections under OBC-A and OBC-B categories made by it. The high court, in an interim stay till July 31, directed that executive notifications between May 8 and June 13 with regard to OBC categories made by the state government will not be given effect to till that date. All the parties were then directed to file their affidavits in the meantime on their contentions with regard to the challenge over new benchmark surveys for the purpose of inclusion under OBC categories in a PIL and the notifications. The state government included 49 subsections under the OBC-A and 91 under the OBC-B categories by executive notifications. It was stated that while more backward sections of people were included under OBC-A, less backward persons come under OBC-B. The high court had in May 2024 struck down the OBC status of several classes in West Bengal granted since 2010, finding such reservations to vacancies in services and posts in the state to be illegal. The court struck down 77 classes of reservation given between April 2010 and September 2010, and 37 classes were created based on the state's Reservation Act of 2012. PTI SJK SJK AMK AMK view comments First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
NDTV
2 days ago
- Politics
- NDTV
Supreme Court Relief For Mamata Banerjee On High Court's "Suprising" OBC Order
New Delhi: The Calcutta High Court interim stay on notifications issued by the West Bengal government - with regard to reservations for Other Backward Classes, or OBCs - was "surprising" and "prima facie erroneous", the Supreme Court said Monday morning. The Supreme Court stayed the High Court order and issued a notice on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's government's plea, and said it would hear the matter after two weeks. "This is surprising. We will issue notice in this. How can the High Court order a stay? Reservation is a part of the functions of the Executive. Since Indira Sawhney (referring to the landmark 1992 case that focused on reservations for OBCs) the Supreme Court has said this." At first the bench led by Chief Justice BR Gavai considered placing this hearing before a different bench of the Calcutta High Court, but ultimately listed matter after two weeks. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Bengal government, mentioned this matter before Chief Justice Gavai. "A writ petition was filed... challenging the new list, saying we have to legislate it, which is contrary to all judgements," he said. To this the Chief Justice stressed that "right from (the Indira Sawhney judgement) the position is that the Executive can do (this)". Mr Sibal also asked for a contempt petition that had been filed in the High Court be stayed. "Let the matter get listed," the Chief Justice said. Mamata Banerjee's government had moved the top court against the High Court's order last month staying the new list of OBCs. A division bench of Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Rajasekhar Mantha, in an interim stay till July 31, directed that executive notifications between May 8 and June 13 with regard to OBC categories made by the state government will not be given effect to till that date. All the parties in the matter were directed by the court to file their affidavits in the meantime on their contentions with regard to the challenge over new benchmark surveys for the purpose of inclusion under OBC categories in a PIL and the notifications. The state government has included 49 subsections under the OBC-A and 91 under the OBC-B categories vide the executive notifications. It has been stated that while more backward sections of people have been included under OBC-A, the less backward people come under OBC-B. The Calcutta High Court had in May 2024 struck down the OBC status of several classes in West Bengal granted since 2010, finding such reservations to vacancies in services and posts in the state are illegal. The court struck down 77 classes of reservation given between April 2010 and September 2010, and 37 classes were created based on the state's Reservation Act of 2012. This order was challenged before the Supreme Court by the West Bengal government and the matter is pending there.
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
SC stays Calcutta HC order on West Bengal OBC list
The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the Calcutta High Court's decision that had stalled the implementation of a revised list of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) notified by the West Bengal government. 'Prima facie, the high court order seems to be erroneous,' said a bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria while hearing the appeal of the state government. On June 17, the Calcutta High Court ordered an interim stay on notifications issued by the state government with regard to reservations to 140 subsections under OBC-A and OBC-B categories made by it. At the outset, the bench took note of the submissions of senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state government, and said, 'This is surprising. How can the High Court pass such an order? Reservation is part of the executive function.' The state had prepared the new list after the high court, in May 2024, quashed the inclusion of as many as 77 communities in the OBC list.
