Calcutta High Court just canceled OBC status for 77 communities in West Bengal mostly affecting Muslims who got certificates after 2010 The court said these post-2010 certificates were not legal and unconstitutional because they were based on religion not actual backwardness These certificates from 2011 to 2024 are now invalid messing up education and job chances but jobs already secured because of the reservations are safe.
The court’s argument was that reservations must be based on caste not religion citing the Indra Sawhney case But constitution does allow for sub-quotas for religious minorities within OBC if they are socially and educationally backward The court didn’t believe the state’s claim that it was all based on data and said the Sachar Committee findings were old which showed that Muslims in Bengal were more backward than even Dalits.
The Bengal government has gone to the Supreme Court but the hearings got delayed students and job seekers who had these cancelled certificates are in a tough spot The state said it gave reservations to these 77 communities because of socio-economic reasons but this whole fight is highlighting the big debate about reservations in India specially when religion gets involved.