The Supreme Court has declined to stay a Calcutta High Court order that annulled the inclusion of 77 castes in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category by the West Bengal government.
The High Court's decision, issued on May 22, overturned a series of state orders from 2010-2012 that had added these castes to the OBC list, with 75 of them being Muslim.
As a result of the High Court's ruling, all OBC certificates issued in Bengal post-2010 have been invalidated.
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, leading a bench that includes Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, has issued a notice in response to a petition from the Bengal government challenging the High Court's order. The Supreme Court has requested the state to provide details of the survey conducted to assess the social and educational backwardness of the 77 castes before their inclusion in the OBC category.
Additionally, the state must clarify if any consultations were held with the State Backward Classes Commission regarding these inclusions. The bench has also asked for data on the alleged under-representation of these communities in state government services.
The Bengal government has been given a week's time to file an affidavit with the required information.