- Centre seeks Supreme Court docket clarification on creamy layer.
- Supreme Court docket dominated parental social standing determines creamy layer.
- Centre cites litigation, administrative hurdles, two-year implementation.
The problem of figuring out the creamy layer below the OBC reservation system has as soon as once more reached the Supreme Court docket, with the Centre in search of clarification on the courtroom’s March 11, 2026 judgment.
The Division of Personnel and Coaching (DoPT) has filed an utility in search of clarification on the judgment and particularly requested that its implementation be exempted for the UPSC Civil Providers Examination 2025 and 2026.
What Did The Supreme Court docket Rule?
A bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and R. Mahadevan had delivered the judgment within the case of Authorities of India vs Rohit Nathan.
The courtroom held {that a} candidate can’t be labeled as a part of the OBC creamy layer solely on the premise of their mother and father’ wage or earnings. It mentioned the mother and father’ place and social standing should even be thought of whereas figuring out creamy-layer standing.
The courtroom additionally held that the federal government’s 2004 order was flawed. The order had prescribed income-based standards for figuring out whether or not youngsters of workers in PSUs, banks and the non-public sector would fall below the creamy or non-creamy layer, whereas youngsters of presidency workers had been excluded from the earnings criterion.
For presidency workers, the class was decided primarily based on their mother and father’ positions. The Supreme Court docket held that this distinction violated the precise to equality below Articles 14 and 16 of the Structure.
Why Is the Centre Involved?
The Centre has argued that instant implementation of the judgment may create a number of administrative difficulties.
The ultimate results of the UPSC Civil Providers Examination 2025 was declared on March 6. Implementing the judgment now may have an effect on cadre and repair allocation, coaching and different administrative processes, the Centre mentioned.
Centre Warns of ‘Flood of Litigation’
The federal government’s utility additionally states that round 3.7 lakh OBC appointments have been made within the Central authorities, Railways, banks, paramilitary forces and universities since 2016.
The Centre has warned that making use of the judgment retrospectively may result in a lot of contemporary disputes and authorized circumstances.
Implementation May Take As much as Two Years
The Centre advised the Supreme Court docket that creating posts in state authorities providers just like these in Central authorities jobs could be a time-consuming course of.
It mentioned consultations with states and the massive variety of authorities establishments concerned may take round two years. Bringing private-sector positions on par with authorities posts would additionally require appreciable time, the Centre mentioned.
Centre Raises Concern Over Excessive-Earnings Households
The Centre has additionally argued that figuring out the creamy layer primarily based on earnings was applicable.
It mentioned that implementing the Supreme Court docket’s path to contemplate mother and father’ positions may doubtlessly lead to youngsters of oldsters incomes greater than Rs 1 crore yearly being labeled as non-creamy layer.
In line with the Centre, this might have an effect on the rights of OBC candidates who’re economically weaker and have fewer assets.
CJI Agrees to Think about Particular Bench
The Centre has requested the Chief Justice to position its utility earlier than the identical bench that delivered the March judgment.
Contemplating the request, the Chief Justice has agreed to represent a particular bench for an early listening to of the matter.
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