The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday struck down several classes as Other Backward Classes (OBC) under an Act of 2012 of West Bengal for reservation of vacancies in services and posts in the state, finding them illegal. According to the court order, the OBC certificate that was issued by the State Government now cannot be used to get any job or any facilities. Almost 5 lakh OBC certificates were cancelled after this order.
Prasun Maitra, who filed the petition seeking scrapping of these classes as OBC in 2020, said he was very happy. Maitra runs the Aatmadeep NGO, a Human Rights organisation. He filed the PIL in 2020 and others joined him.