The West Bengal government on Tuesday sought an urgent hearing by the Supreme Court of India of its appeal against the Calcutta High Court verdict striking down the OBC status of several castes, mostly Muslim groups, in the state for granting them reservation in public sector jobs and admissions in state-run educational institutions, PTI news agency reported.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Mamata Banerjee government, told a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra that the high court verdict needed to be stayed as it was affecting the admission of candidates who have cleared the NEET-UG, 2024.
“We need a stay of the high court’s verdict… the issue of scholarships is pending and the NEET admissions will be effected,” Sibal said.
West Bengal’s Other Backward Classes (OBC) panel, told the SC that the students are lining up for authentication of their OBC status for securing admissions to medical colleges and other institutions.
“We will hear it on Tuesday (August 27),” the CJI said.
Earlier, the apex court had on August 5 asked the state government to provide quantifiable data on social and economic backwardness of fresh castes it has included in the OBC list and on their inadequate representation in public sector jobs.
The high court had on 22 May struck down the OBC status of several castes in West Bengal granted since 2010, holding as illegal the reservation for them in public sector jobs and state-run educational institutions. While striking down the OBC status of these castes, the high court had said, “Religion indeed appears to have been the sole criterion” for declaring these communities as OBCs. The high court also struck down 37 classes chosen for grant of reservation as OBC under The West Bengal Backward Classes (Other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) (Reservation of Vacancies in Services and Posts) Act, 2012.
