Kolkata, The Calcutta High Court Thursday directed the West Bengal Joint Entrance Examinations Board to come up with a new merit list of examinees, holding that the published one did not conform to the court’s order on OBC reservation.Justice Kausik Chanda directed that the fresh panel will provide 7 per cent reservation for the 66 classes of OBC candidates as recognised by the West Bengal Backward Classes Department prior to 2010.He directed that the entire exercise needs to be completed within 15 days from the date of this order.The court directed that affidavits of compliance will be filed by the Registrar, West Bengal Joint Entrance Examinations Board, and also by an officer not below the rank of senior special secretary, West Bengal Higher Education Department, on the next date of hearing after three weeks.Justice Chanda observed that the preparation of the merit list for the Joint Entrance Examination – 2025 by the West Bengal JEE Board has been carried out in clear violation of this court’s order passed on May 21.The suo motu proceeding was initiated on the basis of communications received by Justice Chanda through email from some candidates for the West Bengal JEE Board examination.The court noted in its order that the JEE Board had fixed Thursday for publication of the merit list of the joint entrance examination, 2025, providing reservations to the OBC candidates in terms of a new reservation policy, which had come into effect on June 10.The new policy was stayed by a division bench of the high court on June 17.An interim order of the Supreme Court on July 28 revived the new reservation policy for a limited period until August 11, Justice Chanda noted.The court said that the information bulletin for the state’s JEE – 2025 was published on December 24, 2024, and the application window remained open from January 22 to February 23, 2025, and the examination itself was held on April 27.“In these circumstances, it is wholly beyond comprehension of this court as to how the new reservation policy effective from June 10, 2025, could have any application to the said examination,” the court said.“Even assuming that the said policy is eventually upheld or allowed to operate, it can, at best, have prospective effect. Accordingly, the application of the said policy to the merit list for the 2025 examination is clearly erroneous and unsustainable,” the Judge observed. PTI
