W.B. withdraws plea over nixing of OBC status
The West Bengal government and the State Backward Classes Commission withdrew their Supreme Court petitions against a Calcutta High Court ruling that struck down the inclusion of 77 castes in the State Other Backward Classes list.
AI generated- The West Bengal government withdrew its Supreme Court petition challenging the Calcutta High Court ruling on OBC inclusion.
- The State Backward Classes Commission also withdrew its separate petition in the Supreme Court.
- The Calcutta High Court struck down the inclusion of 77 castes in the State OBC list.
- The Supreme Court allowed the withdrawals and clarified that other aggrieved parties could still challenge the High Court decision.
The West Bengal government and the State Backward Classes Commission withdrew their Supreme Court petitions against a Calcutta High Court ruling that struck down the inclusion of 77 castes in the State Other Backward Classes (OBC) list. The withdrawal matters because it affects the legal status of communities previously covered by reservation and keeps the dispute open for other litigants.
The withdrawn challenge related to a High Court decision that invalidated the inclusion of 77 castes, including 75 Muslim communities, in the State OBC list. The issue sits at the intersection of reservation policy, caste-based classification, and judicial review of state action.
According to the brief, the Solicitor General informed the Supreme Court that the Cabinet had decided to withdraw the appeal. The Bench allowed the withdrawals and clarified that other aggrieved parties could still challenge the High Court verdict.
UPSC may ask how reservation policy balances Articles 14, 15, and 16 with the need for empirical justification, and how courts review inclusion or exclusion of communities in backward class lists.
