Calcutta High Court stays implementation of West Bengal's new OBC list

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday stayed the implementation of West Bengal government's new list of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) [Amal Chandra Das v The State of West Bengal and Ors]..A Division Bench of Justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Rajasekhar Mantha said the interim stay will remain in effect till further orders and no step can be taken by the State based on the list. “For the reasons as discussed above, the operation of the notification no. 917-BCW/MR33/2025 dated 8th May 2025, notification nos. 1056- BCW/MR-33/2025 (Pt. I) and 1057-BCW/MR-38/2025 dated 27th May, 2025, notification nos. 1106- BCW/MR-38/2025 and 1107-BCW/MR-38/2025 dated 3rd June, 2025 and notification no. 912/Secy/BCW dated -13th June, 2025 and all other consequential steps taken shall remain stayed till the end of July, 2025 or until further orders, whichever is earlier,” the Court ordered. .The direction was passed after the Court came to a prima facie conclusion that the government was attempting to bring in the same classes in the OBC list, which were struck down by the High Court earlier. “However, prima facie, it appears that the respondents are proceeding in hot haste and are attempting to bring in the self-same classes and to re-introduce the percentage of reservation, which have been struck down by this Court, by executive orders and not in exercise of State’s legislative functions and that too before we can scrutinize the steps taken by the Commission in terms of our earlier order dated 6th May, 2025.”The Bench added that the government ought to have places the reports and the bills before the legislature for amendment and introduction of classes in the OBC list. “The executive notifications are in direct conflict with the judgment and the same had not been issued under the 2012 Act,” the Court held. .The Mamata Banerjee-led government had tabled the revised OBC-A and OBC-B lists in the West Bengal assembly on June 10, adding 76 new groups, taking the total to 140. According to reports, 80 of these communities are Muslim. Notably, the Calcutta High Court had struck down the government's earlier OBC list with 113 sub-groups, of which 77 were stated to be belonging to the Muslim community. The government's challenge to the High Court decision is pending before the Supreme Court. .The adoption of the new list has created a political slugfest in West Bengal.While the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accused the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) of playing the politics of appeasement, Chief Minister Banerjee has said the list has been prepared based solely on backwardness of the communities. .[Read Order].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.