Supreme Court Demands Data on OBC Inclusion in West Bengal

The Supreme Court has requested the West Bengal government to provide data on the social and economic backwardness of castes included in the OBC list for reservation benefits. Notices were also issued to private litigants challenging the inclusion. The request follows a high court ruling that struck down OBC status for several castes.

The Supreme Court on Monday requested the West Bengal government to present quantifiable data regarding the social and economic backwardness, as well as the inadequate representation in public sector jobs, of the castes included in the OBC list for quota benefits.

The apex court also issued notices to the private litigants who had approached the Calcutta High Court opposing the inclusion of 77 castes, predominantly Muslims, in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) list.

Previously, on May 22, the high court invalidated the OBC status of multiple classes in West Bengal, granted since 2010, terming such reservations to state services and posts illegal. ''Issue notice, including on the application of stay (of the judgment filed by the state government). The state of West Bengal shall file an affidavit before this court explaining the process followed for classification of 77 communities as OBCs,'' the bench, comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra, stated.

The bench also inquired if any consultation was held for the sub-classification of OBCs. The state government is appealing against the high court verdict, which noted that ''Religion indeed appears to have been the sole criterion'' for declaring these communities as OBCs. The high court elaborated that selecting 77 classes of Muslims as backward is disrespectful to the community. It nullified 77 classes of reservation between April and September 2010 and 37 classes created under a 2012 law.