NEW DELHI: Religion cannot be the basis for granting reservation, the Supreme Court said on Monday, while hearing a batch of pleas, including one by the West Bengal government, challenging the Calcutta High Court’s decision to quash the Other Backward Class (OBC) classification of 77, mostly Muslim, communities.
A two-judge bench of the court, led by Justice B R Gavai and Justice K V Viswanathan, observed, “Reservation cannot be on the basis of religion.”
In its May 22 verdict, the high court had said, “Religion indeed appears to have been the sole criterion for declaring these communities as OBCs.”
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state government, told the court that, “This reservation is not based on religion but backwardness which has been upheld by the court. Even for Hindus, its on the basis of backwardness.”
The Supreme Court adjourned the matter to January 7 for a detailed hearing.
The high court had 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.
In its verdict, the high court said, "Religion indeed appears to have been the sole criterion for declaring these communities as OBCs."
The high court further said the "selection of 77 classes of Muslims as backwards is an affront to the Muslim community as a whole".