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New Delhi, Nov 6 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned the hearing in the West Bengal OBC list case by four weeks, and clarified that the Calcutta High Court should not hold any further hearing as long as the matter is pending in the top court.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai and Justice K. A bench of Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria expressed displeasure over the Calcutta High Court’s decision to continue hearing the case despite earlier directions from the Supreme Court.
“When we are familiar with the matter, why should the High Court continue the proceedings?” The bench led by CJI Gavai, while commenting, warned that if such hearings continued, the apex court “may have to say that some other bench will hear the case”.
“List the matter after four weeks. We make it clear that until further orders are passed, the Calcutta High Court should not hear it further,” the top court ordered.
In an earlier order passed on July 28, the Supreme Court had stayed the Calcutta High Court judgment which had stayed the publication of West Bengal’s revised OBC list.
The top court had termed the Calcutta HC order as “surprising” and “prima facie wrong”, noting that reservation falls entirely within the jurisdiction of the executive and does not require legislative approval.
It did not approve of the view of the Calcutta High Court that the West Bengal government should have taken the approval of the state assembly before introducing the new OBC list.
The apex court had remarked, “How can the Calcutta High Court impose such a stay? Reservation is part of the executive functions. It is settled law from the Indira Sawhney (judgment) that the executive can do so. Executive directions are sufficient to provide reservation and legislation is not necessary.”
In an interim order passed on June 17, a division bench of the Calcutta High Court had asked the West Bengal government not to publish the final notification for the new OBC list till July 31 this year.
A bench of Justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Rajashekhar Mantha gave a prima facie opinion that the previous four to five notifications issued by the West Bengal government on the fresh survey to prepare the new OBC list were in violation of the apex court orders.
140 communities were to be included in the fresh OBC list, and the interim stay was considered a major blow to the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government.
In its petition filed before the top court, the state government had argued that if the interim stay imposed by the Calcutta High Court on issuing the final notification for the new OBC list remains in force till July 31, the process of recruitments under this category, as earlier directed by the top court, would come to a halt.
–IANS
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