14-09-2026 Item No.15 Subrata Bhattacharyya AR(C) IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA Constitutional Writ Jurisdiction Appellate Side WPA No.22941 of 2026 Arshadul Arfin Mondal -vs- The Union of India & Ors. Mr. Debottam Das Mr. Saikat Pal …for the petitioner Mr. Aditya Mondal …for WBMCC Mr. Falguni Bandyopadhyay …for Union of India 1. The petitioner participated in NEET (UG), 2026 declaring himself to be a member of OBC category. The OBC certificate relied upon by the petitioner later stood impounded. The petitioner currently intends to take the benefit of reservation under EWS category. 2. On behalf of the petitioner it has been submitted that the petitioner possesses a valid EWS certificate issued on August 21, 2026. The User Manual of Candidates for Registration of UG Medical and Dental Counselling, 2026 has been relied upon. 3. It has been contended that as per the Manual, the candidates who previously held OBC certificates can now get the opportunity to declare themselves as General-EWS. Similarly, the OBC candidates should also get the opportunity to be treated as General-EWS. 4. The contention of the petitioner has been opposed by the learned counsel for the West Bengal Medical Counselling Committee. In support of his contention, the judgment delivered by the Hon’ble Division Bench on August 18, 2026 in MAT No.1374 of 2026 with CAN No.1 of 2026 (Hasibur Rahaman Mondal & Ors. v. The State of West Bengal & Ors.) has been relied upon. 5. Upon hearing the respective submissions made on behalf of both the parties and on perusal of the observations of the Hon’ble Division Bench in the case of Hasibur Rahaman Mondal (supra) wherein the Court made it absolutely clear that it is only the category declared at the time of making the application form and not any subsequent change of categorization that can be entertained by the respondents at the time of counselling, this Court is not inclined to interfere in the instant writ petition. 6. There is hardly any scope to permit the change of categorization at the stage of counselling. 7. In view of the above, no relief can be granted to the petitioner. The writ petition stands dismissed. 8. All parties are to act on the server copy of this order duly downloaded from the official website of this court. 9. Certified server copy of this order, if applied for, shall be made available to the parties. [Amrita Sinha, J] 2 3