NEW DELHI: The West Bengal government on Tuesday pleaded the Supreme Court to list an urgent hearing on its plea against the Calcutta High Court verdict striking down the OBC status of several castes, mostly Muslim groups. The verdict impacts their eligibility for reservation in public sector jobs and state-run educational institutions.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Trinamool Congress-led West Bengal government, said that the plea along with other petitions needed to be heard as the issues like the issuance of OBC certificates are stalled.
A three-judge bench of the apex court, led by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud, told him on Tuesday that the matters will be there on the board and will be taken up just after the bench concludes hearing the cases listed ahead of them.
The senior counsel also said the authorities are unable to issue caste certificates to those seeking quota benefits in admissions, including entry to medical colleges.
It was apprised to the top court that 77 communities have been "de-reserved," and due to the impugned judgement of the Calcutta HC, admission processes are getting affected.
The top court earlier on August 5 had asked the state government to provide quantifiable data on the social and economic backwardness of fresh castes it had included in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) list and on their inadequate representation in public sector jobs.
While issuing notices to private litigants on the plea of the state government against the high court verdict, the bench had earlier asked the authorities to file an affidavit providing details of the consultations conducted by it and the state's backward classes panel before including the castes, mostly Muslim groups, in the OBC list.
The high court had on May 22 struck down the OBC status of several castes in West Bengal granted since 2010, holding as illegal the reservation for them in public sector jobs and state-run educational institutions.