Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court has cancelled all OBC certificates issued under the OBC-A and OBC-B classifications introduced by the previous Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal.
A division bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha and Justice Anuj Singh, while delivering its judgment on Wednesday, said the two classifications no longer exist in the state. As a result, certificates issued under the earlier system have lost their legal validity.
The court order means holders of these certificates will now be treated as belonging to the general category.
The controversy dates back to 2010, when the state government divided OBC communities into two categories, OBC-A and OBC-B.
In 2024, the Calcutta 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, it abolished the OBC-A and OBC-B classification and introduced a single OBC category. The government led by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari also withdrew the previous administration’s challenge against the High Court order from the Supreme Court.
With the legal challenge withdrawn, the earlier OBC certificates lost their legal basis, leading to the latest High Court order.
The judgment is expected to have implications for individuals who had obtained OBC-A or OBC-B certificates under the earlier classification system.