Kolkata: The West Bengal government on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that the exercise for identification of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the state will be conducted afresh and completed in about three months.
A bench of Justices BR Gavai and AG Masih was hearing the petition filed by the state challenging the Calcutta High Court’s decision to quash the OBC classification of 77 communities (mostly Muslim).
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state, is learnt to have said that West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes has informed the state government that they would conduct the benchmark survey on communities who have applied to the Commission for inclusion in OBC list.
Justice Gavai is learnt to have said that if the entire exercise is executed again and fresh reservation is then provided for, nobody will then be aggrieved.
Considering the request, the bench listed the matter in July.On August 5 last year, the Apex Court asked the state government to provide quantifiable data on social and economic backwardness of fresh castes it had included in the OBC list and on their inadequate representation in public sector jobs. It also asked the state to file an affidavit giving details of the consultations, if any, conducted by it and the state’s backward classes panel before, including 37 castes, mostly Muslim groups, in the OBC list.
On Monday, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, while attending an event at Furfura Sharif, had said that an OBC related case was pending in the court and as a result, many recruitments have been stalled. “Despite lists ready, doctors and nursing staff members could not be recruited,” she had said.
Recently, the Calcutta High Court had asked the Bengal’s chief secretary Manoj Pant to take steps and call for explanation as to why certain state government departments published recruitment advertisements based on OBC certificates issued after 2010 despite court order directing against such a move.
In May last year, the High Court had cancelled all OBC certificates issued in West Bengal since 2010. The bench had struck down several portions of the West Bengal Backward Classes (Other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) (Reservation of Vacancies in Services and Posts) Act, 2012.