The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday cancelled all Other Backward Classes (OBC) certificates issued after 2010 by the West Bengal government. However, people who got jobs or are in the process of getting it will not have any impact of this order.
The list of backward classes is to be prepared according to the new Act of 1993. The list will be prepared by the West Bengal Backward Classes Commission. Those who were in the OBC list before 2010 will remain. However, after 2010, OBC nominations have been cancelled. After 2010, those who have jobs under the OBC quota or are in the process of getting them cannot be excluded from the quota. There will be no impact on their jobs, the court said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that they will not accept the Calcutta High Court’s order scrapping the OBC status of several classes in Bengal.
“They got an order passed today but I don’t accept it. When 26,000 people lost their jobs because of BJP, I had said that I would not accept it. Similarly, I am telling today, I do not accept the order today. We won’t accept BJP’s order. OBC reservation will continue. Imagine their audacity,” Mamata Banerjee said.
Passing judgement on petitions challenging the provisions of the Act, the court clarified that the services of citizens of the struck down classes, who are already in service or have availed the benefit of reservation or have succeeded in any selection process of the state will not be affected by the order.
The court struck down several classes for reservation as Other Backward Classes (OBC) given under The West Bengal Backward Classes (Other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) (Reservation of Vacancies in Services and Posts) Act, 2012.
