West Bengal informs Supreme Court of fresh exercise to identify Backward Classes

West Bengal government updates Supreme Court on fresh Socially and Educationally Backward Communities identification exercise for OBC list inclusion, addressing Muslim community concerns.

The West Bengal government informed the Supreme Court on Tuesday (March 18, 2025) that the State’s Backward Classes Commission is embarking on a fresh exercise to identify Socially and Educationally Backward Communities (SEBC) who warrant inclusion in the State’s Other Backward Classes (OBC) List.

The State had appealed the Supreme Court against a Calcutta High Court judgment striking down its policy to include several castes, largely Muslim communities, in the OBC List.

The Calcutta High Court had concluded that religion was the “sole criterion for declaring these communities as OBC”. It had found the “selection of 77 classes of Muslims as backwards an affront to the Muslim community as a whole”.

“The West Bengal Backward Classes Commission is undertaking a fresh exercise to identify sections who require reservation,” senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the State, addressed a Bench headed by Justice B.R. Gavai.

The Bench listed the case after three months, in July.

In an earlier hearing, the top court had asked the State to clarify the nature and scope of the survey undertaken to identify the social and educational backwardness of these communities, and their inadequacy of representation in the State public services which warranted their inclusion in the List.

The court had also asked the State to respond to allegations that no meaningful consultations were held by the State with the West Bengal Backward Classes Commission before the designation of these communities as OBCs.