Exclusion of creamy layer: Centre seeks review on SC/ST quota

NEW DELHI: The Centre urged the Supreme Court on Monday to refer its last year’s verdict excluding the creamy layer within the SC/ST community from reservation benefits to a 7-judge bench for a review.

A 5-judge Constitution bench in 2018 held that the well-off members of the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities cannot be granted the benefits of reservation in college admissions and government jobs. The top court in the Jarnail Singh case had said that the Constitutional courts in implementing the principal of reservation will be within their jurisdiction to exclude the creamy layer from such groups or sub-groups from quota benefits by applying the principle of equality. A bench comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant took note of the submissions of Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, that the matter be referred to a 7-judge bench as the creamy layer exclusion principle cannot be made applicable to SCs and STs.

“This a very emotive issue. I want this aspect to be referred to a larger seven judge bench as the creamy layer principle cannot be made applicable,” the top law officer said. The principle distinguishes between well-off people from the disadvantaged sections and presently, it applies for backward classes in pursuance of the 9-judge bench judgement in the Indra Sawhney case, also known as the Mandal case. Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayan, appearing for ‘Samta Andolan Samiti’, opposed the submissions. The bench, which fixed the pleas for hearing, meanwhile issued notices to the Centre and the National Commission for SCs on a fresh PIL filed by O P Shukla, President of ‘National Coordination Committee for Revision of Reservation Policy’, and M L Sarwan, a former IAS officer, on the issue.