The Calcutta High Court has sought responses from the West Bengal government and the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) on a plea by candidates who first applied under the OBC-A and OBC-B categories for primary teacher recruitment, later obtained Economically Weaker Section (EWS) certificates, and now want their category updated to EWS.
Source: Live Law
Justice Arjun Ray Mukherjee was hearing the writ petition filed by Mohabul Islam and others (WPA 31572 of 2026). The petitioners have challenged the Board's notification of October 14, 2026, and have sought its quashing or, alternatively, a direction to modify it so that they can update their category to EWS.
Source: PTI
The recruitment is for Assistant Teacher posts in government-aided and government-sponsored primary and junior basic schools, to fill 13,421 vacancies under the West Bengal Primary School Teachers Recruitment Rules, 2016. Applications were invited through notifications issued on September 25, 2025 and November 19, 2025, and the petitioners had applied under the OBC-A and OBC-B categories.
How the category dispute arose
On May 18, 2026, the state's Backward Classes Welfare Department withdrew the earlier OBC notifications and published a fresh list of 66 OBC classes eligible for 7 per cent reservation in state services and posts. The petitioners say that after this change they applied for EWS certificates, which the authorities issued after assessing their gross annual income.
The Board's October 14 notification allowed candidates who had applied under OBC-A and OBC-B to modify their categories between October 14 and October 31, failing which they would automatically be treated as unreserved-category candidates. The petitioners alleged that the Board did not allow them to update their category to EWS despite their having obtained the requisite certificates.
What each side argued
Appearing for the petitioners, advocate Sudipta Dasgupta argued that since the petitioners could no longer claim the OBC-A or OBC-B status under which they had originally applied, they should be permitted to update their category to EWS rather than being treated as unreserved candidates.
Opposing the plea, senior advocate Subir Sanyal, appearing for the WBBPE, submitted that the Board had acted in accordance with the state government's policy decision of May 18, 2026, and that the October 14 notification was issued so that earlier OBC applicants would not suffer prejudice. He argued that granting the petitioners' prayer at this stage would effectively amount to granting the final relief sought in the writ petition, and sought time to file an affidavit.
What happens next
The court observed that the central questions — whether the change in circumstances during the selection process gives the petitioners a right to be treated as EWS candidates instead of unreserved candidates, and whether the Board has a corresponding obligation to permit the change — cannot be decided without affidavits. It directed the respondents to file their affidavit-in-opposition within three weeks after the Puja vacation, with the petitioners allowed to file a reply within a week thereafter.
The court also granted liberty to candidates represented by advocate Chitta Priya Ghosh to apply to be added as party-respondents, clarified that all steps taken in the meantime will abide by the outcome of the writ petition, and directed that the matter be listed before the Regular Bench after the stipulated period expires.