The Supreme Court reiterated on Monday that reservation policies cannot be based on religious criteria, during a hearing of appeals against a Calcutta High Court ruling which invalidated the Other Backward Class (OBC) status for several castes in West Bengal assigned since 2010.
The appeals, including one by the West Bengal government, challenge the High Court’s May 22 decision. This hearing was conducted before a bench consisting of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan, where Justice Gavai emphasized, “Reservation cannot be on the basis of religion.”
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the West Bengal government, countered, stating, “This is not on the basis of religion. This is on the basis of backwardness.” However, the High Court had previously noted that religion was apparently the sole criterion used to classify these communities as OBCs, striking down the reservation for them in public sector jobs and state-run educational institutions.
The High Court’s verdict was particularly critical, mentioning, “The selection of 77 classes of Muslims as backwards is an affront to the Muslim community as a whole.” The High Court also nullified 37 additional classifications for reservation under the West Bengal Backward Classes (Other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) (Reservation of Vacancies in Services and Posts) Act, 2012, passed between April and September 2010.
During the Supreme Court session, Justice Sibal highlighted the gravity of the matter, indicating that it affected the rights of thousands of students and job seekers. He requested the bench to consider an interim order and a preliminary stay on the High Court’s decision.
The bench heard submissions from other lawyers, including Senior Advocate P S Patwalia, representing some respondents, and scheduled further detailed arguments for January 7. In an earlier session on August 5, the Supreme Court had asked the West Bengal government to present quantifiable data on the social and economic backwardness of the newly included castes in the OBC list and their representation in public jobs.
