In a significant victory against the harassment of SC, ST and OBC communities in West Bengal, the High Court on August 18 stayed the state government’s order mandating blanket reverification of all SC/ST/OBC certificates issued since 2011.
The newly elected BJP government in West Bengal had announced mandatory reverification of all such certificates issued during the tenure of the previous TMC government, ostensibly to check the possibility of fake certificates. CPI(ML) Liberation had strongly opposed the move, describing it as a veritable caste SIR aimed at putting the entire SC/ST/OBC population through an arbitrary and discriminatory verification exercise.
Comrade Abhijit Mazumdar, Secretary of the West Bengal State Committee of CPI(ML) Liberation, and Comrade Malay Tewari, member of the party’s State Committee, challenged the government’s order before the High Court. The case was argued by advocates Raghunath Chakraborty and Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya.
The High Court’s decision to stay the blanket reverification order comes as a major relief for around 1.69 crore SC/ST/OBC certificate holders in West Bengal, who would otherwise have faced the burden and harassment of mandatory reverification.
CPI(ML) Liberation welcomed the court’s intervention as a significant victory against the state government’s arbitrary and vindictive measure. The party demanded that the West Bengal government respect the court order in letter and spirit and immediately stop harassing SC/ST/OBC communities in the name of mandatory reverification.
The stay order is an important victory for the democratic rights and dignity of West Bengal’s SC/ST/OBC communities and a setback to the BJP government’s attempt to impose a blanket and discriminatory verification regime.
