Supreme Court Ruling on West Bengal Backward Classes (OBCs) Reservation

• The Supreme Court (SC) has questioned the State’s involvement in the West Bengal Backward Classes Commission’s consultations before defining these communities as OBCs.

• The court has requested details of consultations during sub-classification for reservation purposes.

• The ruling has affected five lakh OBC certificates issued in the State since 2010.

• The judgment struck down portions of the West Bengal Backward Classes (Other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) (Reservation of Vacancies in Services and Posts) Act, 2012.

• The Act, which distributed reservation percentages to sub-classified categories, was nullified, removing OBC-A and OBCB from Schedule I.