The Calcutta High Court made a significant decision recently by invalidating all Other Backward Classes (OBC) certificates issued in West Bengal after 2010. In a public interest litigation challenging the methodology of issuing OBC certificates in the state, a panel of two judges pronounced the judgment and found several classes as OBC under an Act of 2012 of West Bengal illegal for reservation of vacancies in services and posts in the state.
The bench, consisting of Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Rajasekhar Mantha, directed that the executive orders classifying 42 classes made by the state from March 5, 2010, to May 11, 2012, were also quashed. It further clarified that the services of citizens from the struck-down classes, who are already in service or have availed the benefit of reservation, will not be affected by the order. The court highlighted the significance of the opinion and advice of the Backward Classes Commission, stating that it is ordinarily binding on the state legislature under the National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993.
In response to the court's decision, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed dissent, labeling it as a conspiracy orchestrated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Banerjee emphasized that the OBC reservation quota introduced by the West Bengal government would continue, alleging that the BJP was using central agencies to impede the state's OBC reservation policy implementation. She questioned the audacity of the BJP in challenging the state's OBC reservation policy, mentioning the extensive process undertaken to draft the Bill after conducting a house-to-house survey, which was later passed by the cabinet and the Assembly.