Today Supreme Court expressed the need to exclude the ‘creamy layer’ among the Scheduled Castes from the reservation benefits meant for the SC categories.

At present, the concept of ‘creamy layer’ is applicable only to the reservation for Other Backward Classes.

The judgment was delivered by a bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath, Bela Trivedi, Manoj Misra and Satish Chandra Sharma. Six judges upheld sub-classification, with Justice Trivedi dissenting. 

Four out of the six judges, who supported sub-classification, expressly stated in their judgments that creamy layer exclusion must be applied to SCs.

Justice BR Gavai, in his judgment, said, “State must evolve a policy to identify creamy layer among the Scheduled Castes and  Scheduled Tribes category and exclude them from fold of affirmative action. In my view, this is the only way to achieve real equality as enshrined in the Constitution.”

Justice Gavai stated that the children of a SC category person who has got the benefit of reservation cannot be put on the same pedestal as the children of a person who has not availed of reservation.

Justice Vikram Nath also endorsed this view, saying, that the creamy layer principle as applicable to OBCs also applies to the SCs.

Justice Pankaj Mithal stated that reservation has to be only limited to the first generation. If any member of the first generation has reached a higher status through reservation, then the 2nd generation should not be entitled to reservation, Justice Mithal stated.

Justice Satish Chandra Sharma agreed with the view of Justice Gavai and said that the issue of identification of creamy layer qua SC/STs ought to become a constitutional imperative for the State.

 In 2018, a 5-judge bench of the Supreme Court, in Jarnail Singh v. Lacchmi Narain Gupta, had observed in the context of reservation in promotionsthat creamy layer exclusion can be applied to SCs/STs.

“The whole object of reservation is to see that backward classes of citizens move forward so that they may march hand in hand with other citizens of India on an equal basis. This will not be possible if only the creamy layer within that class bag all the coveted jobs in the public sector and perpetuate themselves, leaving the rest of the class as backward as they always were. This being the case, it is clear that when a Court applies the creamy layer principle to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, it does not in any manner tinker with the Presidential List under Articles 341 or 342 of the Constitution of India,” Justice RF Nariman wrote in Jarnail Singh.

In the judgment allowing sub-classification of Scheduled Castes, the Supreme Court expressed the need to exclude the ‘creamy layer’ among the Scheduled Castes from the reservation benefits meant for the SC categories.

At present, the concept of ‘creamy layer’ is applicable only to the reservation for Other Backward Classes.

The judgment was delivered by a bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath, Bela Trivedi, Manoj Misra and Satish Chandra Sharma. Six judges upheld sub-classification, with Justice Trivedi dissenting. 

Four out of the six judges, who supported sub-classification, expressly stated in their judgments that creamy layer exclusion must be applied to SCs.

Justice BR Gavai, in his judgment, said, “State must evolve a policy to identify creamy layer among the Scheduled Castes and  Scheduled Tribes category and exclude them from fold of affirmative action. In my view, this is the only way to achieve real equality as enshrined in the Constitution.”

Justice Gavai stated that the children of a SC category person who has got the benefit of reservation cannot be put on the same pedestal as the children of a person who has not availed of reservation.

Justice Vikram Nath also endorsed this view, saying, that the creamy layer principle as applicable to OBCs also applies to the SCs.

Justice Pankaj Mithal stated that reservation has to be only limited to the first generation. If any member of the first generation has reached a higher status through reservation, then the 2nd generation should not be entitled to reservation, Justice Mithal stated.

Justice Satish Chandra Sharma agreed with the view of Justice Gavai and said that the issue of identification of creamy layer qua SC/STs ought to become a constitutional imperative for the State.

 In 2018, a 5-judge bench of the Supreme Court, in Jarnail Singh v. Lacchmi Narain Gupta, had observed in the context of reservation in promotionsthat creamy layer exclusion can be applied to SCs/STs.

“The whole object of reservation is to see that backward classes of citizens move forward so that they may march hand in hand with other citizens of India on an equal basis. This will not be possible if only the creamy layer within that class bag all the coveted jobs in the public sector and perpetuate themselves, leaving the rest of the class as backward as they always were. This being the case, it is clear that when a Court applies the creamy layer principle to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, it does not in any manner tinker with the Presidential List under Articles 341 or 342 of the Constitution of India,” Justice RF Nariman wrote in Jarnail Singh.