Kolkata, August 13: The Kolkata High Court has made a significant ruling by nullifying all Other Backward Class (OBC) certificates issued during the tenure of the previous Trinamool Congress government led by Mamata Banerjee. This decision was announced by a bench comprising Justice Rajshekhar Mantha and Justice Anuj Singh on Wednesday.
The court stated that the two categories of OBC, namely ‘OBC-A’ and ‘OBC-B’, which were implemented by the former government, will no longer exist. Certificates issued under these categories are now deemed invalid. Individuals holding these certificates will be classified under the general category.
Since 2010, the OBC community in the state had been divided into these two classifications. The issuance of OBC certificates during the previous administration had sparked controversy, with allegations of corruption surfacing regarding the process.
In 2024, the Kolkata High Court had already excluded 66 communities from the OBC list and annulled their certificates. The court also ordered a fresh survey to prepare a new OBC list. The then Mamata Banerjee government challenged this decision in the Supreme Court, but the apex court upheld the High Court’s ruling.
Following the Supreme Court’s directive, the state government conducted a new survey and made some adjustments to the OBC classifications ‘A’ and ‘B’. However, the Kolkata High Court raised objections, claiming that the survey was based on only 2,500 samples, which was insufficient for creating a new list. Ultimately, 142 communities were included in the OBC list through this process.
When the High Court expressed its concerns, the state government once again approached the Supreme Court. This time, however, the Supreme Court did not issue any stay order on the matter. Consequently, the process of issuing OBC certificates under the new regulations continued.
In light of the changed circumstances, the Kolkata High Court has now annulled all newly issued OBC certificates.
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