The high court on Thursday refused to stay the ongoing undergraduate admission process in colleges and the submission of online applications for the appointment of schoolteachers over the OBC reservation issue.

A division bench of Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Rajasekhar Mantha was hearing a contempt petition, alleging that the government was proceeding with the admission and recruitment processes despite an interim stay on other backward
classes (OBC) reservation by Calcutta High Court on June 17.

The same division bench had stayed the implementation of the state’s June 8 notification on categorisation of communities under OBC to grant them reservation in jobs and education.

The higher education department started receiving online application forms on June 18. The SSC started receiving online applications on June 16.

According to the division bench, as a special leave petition filed by the state government over the OBC reservation issue was pending before the Supreme Court, there was no point “stalling” both processes at this stage. The apex court will open on July 14 after the summer recess.

Justice Mantha said: “They (the state government) have filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court. In the midst, they have started the process apparently in violation of the court order (of June 17). But after our order, they have put a clarification on the websites stating that no categories will be accepted as of now.....”

Justice Mantha said, referring to the submissions made by advocate general Kishore Datta, that the state government has through separate notifications uploaded on the college admission portal and the school service portal on June 24 stated that no category wise applications are being received given the Calcutta High Court’s June 17 order and that they will abide by what the Supreme Court will say.

“If the Supreme Court does not accept the SLP, then the contempt of the high court order becomes manifest. Then you (Subir Sanyal, representing the petitioner) come to us,” Justice Chakraborty said.

Kalyan Bandopadhyay, representing the higher education department, said: “Through the contempt petition they tried to stall the admission and recruitment process, but failed.”

The court will again hear the case on July 4.

On Thursday evening, education minister Bratya Basu posted on X: “Today the High Court did not interfere with the admission. We are grateful to the court for this. We will go ahead with the admission process in accordance with the rules of the government and court’s order as we have been already doing.”