Calcutta HC orders interim stay on notification of OBC list in W.B.

In a setback to the West Bengal government, the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday directed an interim stay on the preparation of a new list of Other Backward Caste (OBC) communities.
A Division Bench of Justices Rajasekhar Mantha and Tapabrata Chakraborty issued the interim stay till the next date of hearing on July 31. The order was passed by the Division Bench following a petition seeking intervention of the High Court.
The court also put a stay on the State government's decision to open a portal for submission of caste certificates for the purpose of addition of OBC communities in the new list.
The Calcutta High Court in May 2024 had cancelled the OBC reservation awarded to 77 categories, highlighting a complete lack of legislative policy within the 2012 scheme to classify any group as OBC. The State government has approached the Supreme Court and the matter is pending before it.
On June 10, the West Bengal government tabled a new OBC list in the State Assembly with minor changes compared to the previous list.
Question posed
During the proceedings in the court, the Division Bench asked why the new OBC list had been finalised by introducing amendments to the 2012 Act.
The High Court's order came on a day when the State government opened a portal for admission in colleges and universities based on the new OBC list. There seems to be no clarity on the fate of the admission process particularly for those availing admission under the OBC category.
Decision welcomed
Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari in a social media post welcomed the order 'to stay the inclusion of 76 Muslim classes in the new OBC list prepared by the Mamata Banerjee government'.
The Bengal BJP leadership had accused the Trinamool Congress government of 'appeasement politics' for including Muslims in the OBC list. Mr. Adhikari said contrary to the claims of the State Advocate General that the Opposition has not opposed the OBC list tabled in Assembly, he had raised objections to the fresh OBC list tabled by the Chief Minister.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Indian Express

2 hours ago

• Indian Express

In new twist to Kerala ‘moral policing' case, woman's family supports SDPI suspects

The suicide of a woman in Kerala's Kannur after a mob allegedly humiliated her for speaking to her male friend in public has now taken a new turn, with the woman's family supporting the suspects in the case. Raseena, a 40-year-old mother of three children, was found dead at her house in Kannur Tuesday — two days after some members of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) allegedly conducted a 'mob trial' after they found her speaking to a male friend in public. The SDPI is the political wing of banned Muslim outfit Popular Front of India (PFI). Based the victim's suicide note, police had arrested three SDPI workers, C Mubasheer, 28, K A Faisal, 34 and V K Rafnas, 24. The suspects are all natives of Parambayi and the nearby areas at Vengad – a stronghold of the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Kannur. Rafnas is a distant relative of Raseena's. On Saturday, police registered yet another case against the arrested SDPI workers and two others after the woman's male friend, Raheesh Perikkandi, approached them accusing the gang of having abducted and assaulted him, even threatening to leak photos from his phone. Meanwhile, as police continue to investigate the allegations, Raseena's father A Muhammed — a CPI(M) member – approached the police accusing Raheesh of pushing his daughter to the extremes by 'pocketing her gold ornaments and cash'. He also claimed that the family was unaware of their friendship. 'One of the arrested persons is a close relative of my wife Fathima. They had intervened with good intentions. Her gold ornaments worth 40 sovereigns are missing. We have handed over her mobile phone to the police to find the truth,' he said, adding that Rasheesh had 'taken advantage of the discord in her family and tried to blackmail her' by leaking private photos. On its part, the police said it was looking into both complaints. 'The suicide note recovered from the woman did not contain any reference to her friend, but had stated that she was forced to end life due to the humiliation caused by the arrested persons,' Thalassery police sub-divisional officer P B Kiran said. He further said: 'The case, which was initially registered for unnatural death, has been altered to abetment of suicide. We are examining the complaint from the woman's family and also looking into whether they are under pressure to support the arrested people. The case registered on the complaint of the male friend against the arrested also will be probed as part of the suicide case.' Meanwhile, the issue has taken a political turn, with the Communist Party of India (Marxist)'s Kannur district secretary K K Ragesh claiming that moral policing 'was part of their [SDPI's] agenda to establish Islamic regime'. 'The SDPI wants to impose Talibanism, and society should speak up against this. The incident has shown the ugly face of the organisation, which issues fatwa against women. The woman ended life following a mob trial, and those who tried her have a Taliban mentality. They are still insulting the woman and her family,' he said Saturday. But the SDPI maintains the innocence of the suspects, who allegedly took Raheesh to the outfit's local office for questioning. 'When they saw the woman and the youth, they had summoned the relatives of the woman. The SDPI gave its office for discussions. The arrested youth were familiar with her issues and hence they intervened,' SDPI Kannur district president Basheer Kannadiparamba said.

Time of India

2 hours ago

• Time of India

EWS quota bloc trails OBCs in UPSC mains, but turns tables in interviews

Representative Image NEW DELHI: The upper castes availing the economic backwardness quota have trailed the backward classes in the Mains examinations of the Civil Services competition for the last two years. But the dynamic of competitiveness between the two reserved categories is complex, as the forwards have prevailed in the ultimate test by virtue of greater score in the 'interview' part of the competition. In the recent results for CS-2024, the cut-off for the Economically Weaker Sections category in the Civil Services (Main) exams was 696 marks as compared to 702 for the OBCs. But in the Final results after the interview, the EWS had a cut-off merit of 917 marks as against 910 for the OBCs. Under the EWS category, the non-SC/ST/OBC get 10% reservation on the basis of the poverty criteria. The cut-off marks are the minimum qualifying score for a social bloc availing the reservations, and they vary across the categories of SC, ST, OBC, and EWS. In the Mains part of the CS-2023, the OBCs scored a cut-off of 712 as compared to 706 for the EWS. But in the Final, the OBCs trailed with a cut-off of 919 to the EWS which had 923 as the minimum marks. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Free P2,000 GCash eGift UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo The Mains-Interview contrast is seen as surprising. Shashank Ratnoo, a lawyer who specialises in reservation laws and issues, said, "There is no starkly noticeable reason for OBCs to have more marks in the Mains than EWS, yet lose out in the final cut off on account of EWS scoring better interview marks. It possibly shows that the EWS group has no or lesser social disadvantages that hurt competitiveness." Interestingly, the contrast in the merit for OBCs and EWS in the Civil Services Examinations has been a see-saw. In the wake of the fresh EWS quotas introduced in 2019, the OBCs dominated the Mains and the Final both in 2019 and 2020. While it was surprising that EWS, which has groups with lower social handicaps, trailed behind the OBCs, it was viewed as result of the fact that a new quota regime had just come into effect and the facts about its procedures and criteria had not percolated down to the wider eligible umbrella. Later, the EWS overhauled the gap with OBCs and came to score higher in the examinations. According to Ratnoo, what is surprising is that EWS has notched a quicker rise in merit than possibly any social sub-group has done after coming under the reservation system. "It is interesting that the Centre (DoPT) recently ordered an inquiry into the income certificates of some EWS candidates who were selected in the civil services after the Final exams. Such closer scrutiny may help understand the issue better. "

NDTV

6 hours ago

• NDTV

"Clerical Error": Delhi University After Muslim Listed Under 'Language' On Admission Form

New Delhi: Delhi University on Saturday clarified that the listing of "Muslim" as a 'mother tongue' and the omission of Urdu from its undergraduate admission form was a "clerical error", after the move triggered widespread criticism from academics and civil society. In a statement, the university said, "The University of Delhi sincerely regrets the inadvertent error in its admission form. We acknowledge your concerns and are committed to addressing them. However, attributing ulterior motives to this entirely unintentional oversight is unwarranted. We request all not to vitiate the University's diverse and harmonious environment." The clarification came after screenshots of the application portal began circulating online, showing "Muslim" in the list of languages under the 'mother tongue' section, while Urdu -- a constitutionally recognised language under the Eighth Schedule -- was missing. The university's admission portal was briefly taken down and restored later. While DU has not yet released a detailed explanation on how the error occurred, officials claimed that the form has since been corrected and Urdu reinstated. However, the issue has sparked strong academic and political pushback, with several teachers' groups calling it more than just a technical oversight. "This is not an innocent mistake," said Abha Dev Habib, former member of DU's Executive Council. "The error reflects deep-seated biases -- conflating religion with language is not just ignorant, it's communal." Faculty members across departments echoed concerns that the incident reflects a "slippage in institutional integrity". Dr Mithuraaj Dhusiya, a member of DU's Executive Council, said, "Mistakes like these damage the university's inclusive image. Urdu is not just a language -- it is an essential part of India's cultural and literary legacy." The issue has also prompted a wider discussion about linguistic representation in higher education institutions. Rudrashish Chakraborty, a professor at Kirori Mal College, said, "The portrayal of 'Muslim' as a language suggests a worrying attempt to misrepresent India's largest minority community. Urdu is a secular language spoken by people of all faiths." Teachers also questioned the language used in the form itself. "The term 'mother tongue' is colloquial. Academic institutions should instead be using 'native language' or 'first language' for clarity," said a professor from DU's English department.