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The West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination Board (WBJEE) will publish this year’s entrance exam results on August 7, following a delay of over a month. Decks had been cleared for the publication of West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination Board (WBJEE) results following the Supreme Court’s July 28 order staying the Calcutta High Court’s earlier decision to halt the implementation of a revised list of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) notified by the state government, a senior higher education department official said on Wednesday.
“From today (July 31), candidates will have to upload details about their caste category certificate in the relevant section of WBJEE portal till August 2. The board will sort out the data and incorporate updates of every candidate before coming up with the results,” she said.
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“We are sure the process (of uploading details) will be over by the stipulated time and the results will be published on August 7,” the WBJEE chairperson said.
“We in the higher education department had already anticipated this and are fully prepared to take appropriate actions immediately,” state Education Minister Bratya Basu had said soon after the apex court’s order.
Before the Supreme Court’s directive, Banerjee had said, “We were ready to publish the results by July 5. But then, the legal developments followed, and the matter became subjudice. We were waiting for the government’s directive.” The WBJEE exams were held on April 27.
On July 28, a bench comprising Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria, while hearing the appeal of the state government, vacated the stay of the HC of the state’s OBC policy and said “prima facie, the high court order seems to be erroneous.”
On June 17, the Calcutta High Court ordered an interim stay on notifications issued by the state government with regard to reservations to 140 subsections under OBC-A and OBC-B categories made by it.
The Supreme Court bench took note of the submissions of senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state government, and said, “This is surprising. How can the high court pass such an order? Reservation is part of the executive function.” The state had prepared the new list after the high court, in May 2024, quashed the inclusion of as many as 77 communities in the OBC list.
