Calcutta HC cancels OBC certificates issued in Bengal after 2010

Calcutta High Court cancels OBC certificates in West Bengal, affecting five lakh certificates issued after 2010.

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday cancelled all Other Backward Classes (OBC) certificates issued in West Bengal since 2010. 

The judgment, delivered by a Division Bench comprising Justices Tapabrata Chakrabarty and Rajasekhar Mantha, however, clarified that individuals who had already secured employment using these certificates would not be affected by this order.  The verdict is said to affect about five lakh OBC certificates issued after 2010. 

The development assumes significance as it coincides with the ongoing Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal. Voting is scheduled across several constituencies with substantial OBC population in the remaining phases.

The Bench struck down several portions of the West Bengal Backward Classes (Other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) (Reservation of Vacancies in Services and Posts) Act, 2012. 

Among the Sections nullified were Section 16, the second part of Section 2(h), and Section 5(a) of the Act, which distributed reservation percentages of 10% and 7% to the sub-classified categories. Consequently, the sub-classified categories OBC-A and OBC-B were removed from Schedule I of the Act. 

The court further observed, “Citizens from the 77 classes and 37 classes (added in the exercise of Section 16) struck down above, who are already in the service of the State, or have already availed the benefit of reservation or have succeeded in any selection process in the State, shall not be affected by the reason of this judgment.” 

The judgment was declared in open court, with Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty reading out the operative portion. The court instructed the West Bengal Backward Class Welfare Department, in consultation with the State Backward Class Commission, to prepare a report for the State legislature. This report, the court directed, should include recommendations for the inclusion of new classes or the exclusion of remaining classes from the State’s list of OBCs.