Centre seeks two-year deferral to implement Supreme Court's OBC creamy layer ruling
Quick Look
The Indian government has requested the Supreme Court to make its March ruling on OBC creamy layer criteria prospective and grant two years to implement it, arguing retrospective application from 2012 would disrupt appointments, admissions, and civil service seniority due to cascading effects across categories.
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Why It Matters
The Supreme Court in March ruled that parental income alone cannot determine the creamy layer for OBC reservation, requiring consideration of parental job status and category alongside an income/wealth test, with the verdict made applicable from 2012 when the case was first filed.
NEW DELHI: Facing the task of implementing Supreme Court's ruling on calculating creamy layer criteria for OBC reservation from the retrospective date of 2012, Centre pleaded with the court to make the enforcement of the verdict prospective and grant it two years' time to implement it. The court had in March held that the income of parents could not be the sole criterion to determine the creamy layer of a candidate for exclusion from OBC reservation, and status and category of a parent's job had to be considered with an 'income/wealth test' as an additional criterion. It made the verdict implementable from 2012, when the case was first filed. In a written note filed by additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati, govt submitted that the retrospective application of a changed eligibility criterion may unsettle appointments and admissions made under the rules and certificates prevailing at the time and create uncertainty regarding OBC-NCL status, seniority, service conditions and career progression. "The retrospective implementation of the present judgement would create changes in candidates' service and cadre allocation... as it would affect the services of persons appointed on the basis of CSE-2012 onward and cause a cascading effect among civil servants... The aforementioned cascading effect will impact not only OBC candidates but also reverberate across all categories including (unreserved category) of the civil services," the note said.
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Govt said a reasonable time of two years should be given to it to undertake the necessary exercise of establishing equivalence of posts, after consulting all the stakeholders and formulating a uniform policy/mechanism for determination of OBC creamy layer status. "Union of India is only praying for a limited deferral of the operationalisation of the law laid down by this hon'ble court for a period of two years so that the competing rights can be adjusted consistent with the administrative contingencies and an effective equivalence exercise is carried out," it said.
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What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
The Supreme Court will grant a limited deferral for implementation of the creamy layer ruling
Likely · Within weeks
Open Questions
- Will the Supreme Court accept the government's request for a two-year deferral?
- What specific mechanism will be developed to determine OBC creamy layer status after the deferral period?
- How will the government address potential disparities arising from the retrospective application if the deferral is not granted?
