SC stays Calcutta HC order asking state board to recast merit list of JEEMAS students

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday stayed a high court order asking the West Bengal Joint Entrance Examinations Board (WBJEEB) to scrap and recast the merit list of the Joint Entrance Examination for Medical and Allied Sciences (Postgraduate) for 2024–25. Observing the WBJEEB acted in “clear violation” of an order, the Calcutta High Court directed it to recast the merit list and publish a fresh panel, providing 7 per cent reservation for the 66 classes of OBC candidates as recognised by the West Bengal Backward Classes Department prior to 2010, in line with the May 22, 2024 order.

On Friday, however, a bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran took note of the submissions of senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state government, seeking a stay of the high court’s August 7 order saying it was posing difficulties to the administration. “Issue notice… there shall be a stay on the impugned order,” the CJI ordered and posted the plea of the state government after four weeks.

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7% reservation to only 66 pre-2010 OBC communities

The high court held that the WBJEEB illegally applied the state’s new reservation policy, introduced on June 10 to the JEMAS (PG)-2024 admission process, despite the fact that the policy was stayed and the certificates under it had already been struck down. The high court ordered the board to publish a fresh merit list within 15 days, strictly granting 7 per cent reservation only to 66 OBC communities recognised prior to 2010, as directed in a 2024 division bench judgment.

On May 22, last year, the high court division bench struck down the classification of OBC-A and OBC-B categories, invalidated the State’s 10% and 7% reservation quotas for them, and nullified all related certificates issued after 2010. On March 18, this year, the West Bengal government informed the Supreme Court that the state commission for backward classes was examining the issue of backwardness afresh.

The pleas, including the one by the state, have challenged the Calcutta High Court's May 22 2024 verdict that struck down the OBC status of several castes in West Bengal granted since 2010. The high court held as illegal their reservation in public sector jobs and state-run educational institutions.