Calcutta HC stays Bengal govt’s revised OBC list

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday stayed the preparation of a new list of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the West Bengal, which included the addition of new castes to the existing list of OBC classes. A division bench of Justices Rajasekhar Mantha and Tapabrata Chakraborty issued the interim stay until the next date of hearing. The court has also stayed the State Government’s decision to open a portal for the submission of caste certificates for the purpose of adding new OBC classes to the updated lists.The court observed that legal procedures and court directives were violated by the state.
During the hearing, justice Mantha criticised the state saying: “You did half the work under the 2012 OBC Act and then reverted to the 1993 Act. Why is this inconsistency?” The court barred the state from appointing people from these communities with immediate effect but said those who have joined service so far on the basis of OBC reservation will not be affected. 
The petitioner had challenged the State Government’s move to issue new OBC lists, arguing that it included groups whose reservations had previously been struck down by the High Court division bench. “The bench raised several questions when we pointed out that a proper survey on economic conditions and other parameters of 140 communities cannot be done in one and a half months as claimed by the state,” Lawyer Bikram Bandopadhyay, who represented petitioners challenging the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government’s June 10 notification, told the media after the hearing.
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s West Bengal unit president Sukanta Majumdar welcomed Tuesday’s order, saying “it has exposed the TMC’s efforts to appease Muslims through the backdoor.” Defending the state, TMC spokesperson Arup Chakraborty said: “The survey on economic condition and other parameters was conducted following guidelines set by the court. It is a propaganda that a specific community is being benefitted.” State government lawyers said the interim stay would be challenged at the Supreme Court.