West Bengal 2025 admission resumes; WBJEE merit list by August 22 after HC ruling on OBC quota

Bringing long-awaited relief to the West Bengal students, the Calcutta High Court directed the West Bengal Joint Entrance Examinations Board (WBJEEB) to publish a fresh merit list within 15 days, setting the deadline for August 22. The court ruling is expected to end the prolonged halt on the admission process across the state.

It all began on June 17, when a division bench comprising Justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Rajasekhar Mantha ordered an interim stay — valid until July 31 — on the West Bengal government’s decision regarding reservations under 140 sub-groups, of which 49 subsections were under the OBC-A and 91 under the OBC-B categories.

The uncertainty over the admission process caused widespread confusion and panic among the students and colleges alike. While professors of top colleges and universities, such as Jadavpur University, government engineering colleges, and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology (MAKAUT), voiced concerns about losing meritorious students to other states and premier engineering institutes. Meanwhile, students were left at a crossroads.

WBJEE 2025 exam was conducted on April 27 for more than a lakh students from across the country. A three-month long delay over the OBC reservation had impacted a large section of students, but was not limited to it. Recruitment in the state was also stalled, since the selection process also involved a quota system.

West Bengal admission 2025 resumes

Just before the deadline set by the division bench of Calcutta High Court, the Supreme Court on July 28 stayed the HC order calling that the ruling seems "prima facie erroneous". The top court directed to form a fresh panel to decide on the matter within a stipulated time like six weeks. It observed that the reservation is part of an executive function.

The ruling removed the legal barrier surrounding the West Bengal admission process for undergraduate courses through WBJEE, JENPAS-UG, PUBDET, PUMDET, among others. Following this, the WBJEEB chairperson, Sonali Chakraborty Banerjee, announced that the board will announce the WBJEE results and the merit list positively by August 7.

Students were asked to submit the update of their social category by August 2 for preparing the merit list, later extending the deadline to August 5. The West Bengal Centralised Admission Portal (WBCAP), wbjeeb.nic.in, hosted the link for uploading the details of OBC category.

The WBJEE merit list and scorecard will also be made available on the official website.

Calcutta HC order fresh merit list

The WBJEE was all set to announce the results for admission to engineering, technology, pharmacy, and architecture courses. However, a day before the WBJEE result date 2025, Justice Kaushik Chanda initiated contempt proceedings against the state after receiving complaints from merit-based candidates in WBJEE and JENPAS.

As a result, the WBJEE result 2025 was postponed once again.

The court had summoned the principal secretary to clear the stance of the state government. After hearing the matter, on August 7, Justice Chanda directed a fresh panel to offer 7% reservation for the 66 classes of OBC candidates as recognised by the West Bengal Backward Backward Classes Department prior to 2010.

The board has been given 15 days to complete the process and publish a fresh merit list by incorporating the old OBC reservation policy. Candidates can expect the WBJEE merit list by August 22 on the WBCAP official website, wbjeeb.nic.in, wbcap.in, and others.

WBJEE, JENPAS, PUMDET 2025: Updates

Now that the admission process has officially resumed in West Bengal, take a look at the latest updates.

WBJEE 2025 - The fresh merit list and scorecard download link will be made available by August 22. The counselling process for engineering, pharmacy, and architecture will be conducted based on the scores obtained by the students in the entrance exam.

JENPAS - UG 2025 - The WBJEEB conducts the JENPAS-UG entrance exam for admission to courses like BSc Nursing, Bachelor of Physiotherapy (BPT), Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Technology (BMLT), BSc in Critical Care Technology (BSc CCT) and allied courses. The exam date and counselling process will be uploaded soon.

PUBDET 2025 - The board has announced that it will declare the results for admission to four-year BA/ BSc (Honours) courses in the Presidency University for the academic session of 2025-26 on August 9.

PUMDET 2025 - The exam is conducted for admission to various MA, MSc courses in Presidency University. As per the schedule, the exam will be conducted on August 24. The registration process begins today and will be made available till August 11.

Candidates can expect an update soon on JECA and JELET for admission into 2nd year (3rd semester) of four-year bachelor’s degree courses in engineering, technology, pharmacy in universities and West Bengal government colleges.