- Issue: Whether the creamy layer concept should be extended to SC/ST reservations.
- Centre’s Stand: The government opposed excluding better-off members of SC/ST communities from reservation benefits merely on the basis of income or economic advancement.
- Reason: The Centre argued that SC/ST reservation is based primarily on historical social discrimination and caste-based disadvantage, which may continue even when a person becomes economically better off.
- Present Position: The creamy layer principle currently applies mainly to OBC reservation, where socially advanced sections are excluded from reservation benefits. Government records have historically stated that there is no creamy layer concept for SC/ST reservation.
- Supreme Court Action: On 10 February 2026, the Supreme Court asked the Centre to clarify its position on petitions seeking exclusion of the better-off sections among SCs and STs from reservation benefits.
- Centre’s Argument: Economic status alone cannot adequately measure the social discrimination faced by SC/ST communities.
- Importance: The case is significant because any eventual Supreme Court ruling could affect how reservation benefits for SCs and STs are structured in government employment and educational institutions.
Question:
Q1. What stand did the Union Government take before the Supreme Court regarding the creamy layer principle for SC/ST reservations?a) It supported compulsory income-based exclusion
b) It proposed abolishing SC/ST reservations
c) It opposed applying the creamy layer principle to SC/ST reservations
d) It proposed applying the OBC income limit to SC/ST communities
Answer: c) The Centre argued that SC/ST reservations address historical and continuing caste-based social discrimination, not merely economic backwardness. Therefore, it opposed excluding relatively affluent SC/ST members from reservation benefits solely through a creamy layer criterion.
