Latest news with #1993Act
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Business Standard
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Business Standard
Calcutta HC grants interim stay on WB's OBC list notification till Jul 31
The bench warned that the executive cannot bypass legislative procedures, stating that half the process was followed and the rest done unilaterally ANI General News The Calcutta High Court on Monday gave an interim stay on the West Bengal government's recently issued notifications on the OBC list till July 31. This order is a big setback for the Mamata government. A division bench comprising Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Raja Sekhar Mantha passed the interim order while hearing petitions challenging the state's classification of communities under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. Judges said that necessary steps should be taken regarding the 66 communities belonging to the OBC category. In this latest OBC notification there are listed 140 communities. However, OBC certificates issued before 2010 under the 1993 law remain valid for employment and admissions. The bench warned that the executive cannot bypass legislative procedures, stating that half the process was followed and the rest done unilaterally. Petitioners claimed the survey was flawed, with limited samples and negligible changes from the earlier list. The state admitted that college admissions and recruitment are stalled due to the case. During the hearing, Solicitor General Ashok Chakraborty, representing the Centre, pointed out that the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) had sought clarification from the state on how Muslim and OBC classifications were identified. The NCBC minutes mentioned that several communities had converted from Hinduism to Islam, complicating census data. Justice Rajasekhar Mantha raised the question to state, saying, "You have done half the work according to the 2012 OBC Act. Then you have gone back to the 1993 Act. Why is this? Why didn't you amend the 2012 Act? You have been providing benefits for the last 15 years. The law says that a survey has to be done after 10 years. That survey has not been done.
Time of India
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Mamata Banerjee's new OBC list also hits high court hurdle
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee KOLKATA: Calcutta HC temporarily stayed Tuesday Bengal govt's new OBC list of 140 sub-groups - 80 Muslim, 60 non-Muslim - till July 31, halting a move that had replaced the earlier 113-group list struck down by the court in May last year. A division bench of Justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Rajasekhar Mantha paused the June 3 gazette notification and all related state orders, including the portal inviting OBC caste certificate applications. HC found procedural flaws in the state's execution under West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993, after the 2012 law had been adopted. "The next obvious step after passing the draft notification on OBC laid in the assembly would have been to introduce an amendment to the 2012 Act," said Justice Mantha. "You complied with the legislative procedure the court ordered in May 2024. But then you abandoned the 2012 Act and took steps under the 1993 Act." Justice Chakraborty questioned why the state was pushing ahead when the matter was pending before Supreme Court. "Keep your hands off until Supreme Court hears the matter. We are not going to pass any interim order," he said. Supreme Court's next hearing is scheduled for July. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Free P2,000 GCash eGift UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo Bengal govt is weighing a challenge to the temporary stay. "It is an interlocutory order, but there are grounds to appeal. The apex court was informed during the March hearing that a fresh survey was underway," a senior official said. The new list expanded the number of Muslim sub-groups from 77 to 80 and non-Muslim groups from 36 to 60. CM Mamata Banerjee had defended the formula last week: "Backwardness, not religion, was the sole criterion in the fresh OBC survey in Bengal." The stay could affect admissions and recruitment as current OBC reservations will drop below 17% without the expanded list. Senior counsel S Sriram, representing the petitioner, said the executive had no authority under the 2012 Act to declare OBC reservations. "The 2012 Act explicitly states that only the legislature can make provisions for reservation under the Act or Article 16(4) of the Constitution," he said.
