The Supreme Court on Thursday said that states are required to identify the “creamy layer” within the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) and exclude them from reservation benefits. Currently, the concept of the “creamy layer” applies only to reservations for Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

This decision came from the top court as it addressed the issue of further sub-classification within SCs and STs.

A seven-judge Constitution bench, led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, decided by a 6:1 majority that states can indeed implement sub-classification within SCs and STs to allocate reservations more effectively to the most disadvantaged groups within these categories.

The ruling underlined that social equality principles allow for preferential treatment to the most backward classes within the SCs. The bench included Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath, Bela Trivedi, Pankaj Mithal, Manoj Misra, and Satish Chandra Sharma.

The bench issued six separate judgments. While the majority endorsed the principle of sub-classification, Justice Trivedi dissented. Four of the six judges supported the exclusion of the creamy layer from reservations.

Justice Gavai, in his judgment, stressed that states must develop policies to identify and exclude the creamy layer among SCs and STs from affirmative action. He argued that this approach is essential to achieving “real equality” as envisaged by the Constitution. He stressed that the children of individuals who have benefited from reservations should not be equated with those whose families have not.

Justice Gavai also noted that criteria for determining the creamy layer among SCs and STs should differ from those used for OBCs.

Justice Satish Chandra Sharma concurred with Justice Gavai’s perspective, stating that identifying a creamy layer within SCs and STs should become a constitutional obligation for the state.

Justice Pankaj Mithal said that reservation should be restricted to the first generation only. If a member of the first generation achieves a higher status through reservation, then the second generation should not be eligible for further reservation, he asserted.

The term “creamy layer” refers to individuals within reserved categories who are relatively advanced socially and economically. This concept at present applies solely to OBC reservations, with the creamy layer defined as households with an annual income exceeding Rs 8 lakh.

In a 2018 judgment, the Supreme Court had held that the creamy layer principle should also extend to SCs and STs for reservation in promotions.

“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, per LiveLaw.