Reservation can’t be on basis of religion: SC on West Bengal OBC list

“Reservation can’t be on the basis of religion,” the Supreme Court said on Monday while hearing the West Bengal Government’s petition challenging the Calcutta High Court’s order striking down the state government’s decision to classify 77 castes, mostly Muslims, as OBCs.

The observation came from a Bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice KV Viswanathan after senior counsel Kapil Sibal, representing the West Bengal Government, sought to know if in principle Muslims were not entitled to reservation.

The Bench wondered if the high court could have struck down Section 12 of the West Bengal Backward Classes (Other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) (Reservation of Vacancies in Services and Posts) Act, 2012, which enabled the state to identify backward classes. It deferred the hearing to January 7, 2025.

Sibal asserted that the state government’s decision was based on backwardness and not religion. “Backwardness exists in all communities,” Sibal submitted.

He said the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s judgment quashing reservation for Muslim OBC communities was stayed by the SC and the matter was still pending.

Asserting that the state government had quantifiable data, Sibal said it affected a large number of people, including students. On behalf of the respondents, senior advocate PS Patwalia countered Sibal’s arguments, saying the reservation benefit was extended to the said Muslim groups without any quantifiable data or survey and by bypassing the Backward Classes Commission. The Calcutta HC had on May 22 quashed the OBC status of several castes in West Bengal, granted since 2010, declaring the reservation given to them in services and posts in the state as illegal.

The high court struck down several classes for reservation as OBCs given under the West Bengal Backward Classes (Other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) (Reservation of Vacancies in Services and Posts) Act, 2012.

“Religion indeed appears to have been the sole criterion” for declaring these communities as OBCs, the HC had said. However, it had clarified that the services of citizens of the struck-down classes, who were already in service or had availed of the benefit of reservation or had succeeded in any selection process of the state would not be affected.

The HC had quashed the state’s executive orders classifying several other classes as OBCs from March 5, 2010, to May 11, 2012, in view of the illegality of the reports.