Kolkata
Calcutta High Court Cancels Earlier OBC-A, OBC-B Certificates
The Calcutta High Court has ruled that OBC certificates issued under the earlier OBC-A and OBC-B classifications are no longer valid, with their holders to be treated under the general category.
The Calcutta High Court has cancelled OBC certificates issued under the OBC-A and OBC-B classifications introduced by the previous Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal.
A division bench comprising Justice Rajasekhar Mantha and Justice Anuj Singh, while delivering its judgement on Wednesday, said that the two classifications no longer exist in the state and that certificates issued under the earlier system have consequently lost their validity.
According to the judgement, holders of these certificates will now be treated as belonging to the general category.
The issue dates back to 2010, when the state government divided OBC communities into two classifications — OBC-A and OBC-B. In 2024, the High Court struck down the inclusion of 66 communities in the OBC list and directed the state government to conduct a fresh survey.
After the BJP government came to power in 2026, the OBC-A and OBC-B classification was abolished and replaced with a single OBC category. The Suvendu Adhikari government also withdrew the previous administration’s challenge against the matter in the Supreme Court.
Following the withdrawal of the legal challenge, the earlier certificates lost their legal basis, leading to the High Court’s latest order.
The ruling is expected to have implications for individuals who had obtained OBC certificates under the earlier classification system and may affect their eligibility under the state’s revised reservation framework.
