SIR Bengal 2.0: Which OBC certificates will be allowed during hearings and why

Based on these directions, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, has circulated instructions to all District Electoral Officers (DEOs), enclosing the Calcutta High Court’s December 24, 2025 order on the matter.

In the second phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal, the Election Commission has issued a clear explanation on which Other Backward Classes (OBC) certificates will be considered valid during hearings.

The CEO’s communication detailed the High Court’s directions. The court had said that OBC certificates issued to 64 classes and 76 classes under government notifications dated May 27, 2025, June 3, 2025, and June 12, 2025 are valid from the dates of those notifications. These certificates can be accepted as one of the 13 documents approved by the Election Commission of India (ECI) for SIR 2026.

The court also said that OBC certificates issued to 66 classes before 2010 will continue to be accepted as one of the 13 ECI-approved documents for SIR 2026.

However, the court stated that OBC certificates issued between 2010 and 2024 to 113 classes are not valid. Since these certificates were cancelled by the Calcutta High Court, they have “no locus standi in the eye of law, and therefore cannot be treated as a valid document”, according to the order.

The petitioner, Arijit Bakshi, a registered voter in West Bengal, had argued before the court that the Election Commission must clearly specify that only valid OBC certificates, and not those categories struck down by the High Court, should be accepted during the electoral roll revision process.

In May 2024, the Calcutta High Court had cancelled OBC reservations granted to 77 categories, citing the absence of a clear legislative policy in the 2012 scheme for classifying communities as OBCs. The West Bengal government has challenged the ruling in the Supreme Court, where the matter is currently pending.