New Delhi, March 12: The Supreme Court has delivered a historic judgment regarding the determination of the Non-Creamy Layer (NCL) for Other Backward Classes (OBC). On March 11, the court clarified that the classification of the creamy layer cannot solely depend on the salary or income of parents. Instead, it must also consider the position of the job and other factors as outlined in the original guidelines from 1993.
The court stated that if parents are employed in Group C or Group D positions (Class III or IV), their salary will not be included in the creamy layer assessment. Additionally, income derived from agriculture will be entirely excluded. To qualify as a non-creamy layer, a family’s total income from ‘other sources’ (such as business, property, rent, etc.) must average less than 8 lakh rupees per year over three consecutive years.
In this ruling, the court invalidated paragraph 9 of a 2004 letter from the Department of Personnel and Training, which suggested including the salaries of bank, private sector, or PSU employees in the creamy layer classification. The court deemed this discriminatory, asserting that children of government employees should not be treated differently from those of private or PSU employees. Until equivalence with government Group III or IV positions is established, only the original 1993 order will apply.
This decision brings significant relief to thousands of OBC candidates who were previously denied reservations due to salary or other misinterpretations that classified them as part of the creamy layer. Many of these individuals are employed in government jobs but have not reached the appropriate cadre or position. The court has directed that this ruling be applied retroactively. The Department of Personnel and Training has been given six months to implement this decision. If necessary, supernumerary posts will be created to ensure that the seniority of employees from other categories is not affected.
Moving forward, valid OBC-NCL certificates (issued by the district magistrate or tehsildar) will be prioritized in civil services examinations, and salary-based rejections will cease.
This ruling aims to restore the true purpose of OBC reservations, which is to benefit the genuinely needy within the backward classes. Cases like those of Rohit Nathan (CSE-2012) and Ketan Batch (CSE-2015) will require the Department of Personnel and Training to reassess and reinstate OBC-NCL status within six months.
Arpit Soni has had a passion for journalism since the beginning. Now he has turned this hobby into his profession. Arpit, who is a resident of Udaipur, enjoys editing and writing news related to journalism. He has worked as a Senior Content Producer in several important roles at Bhaskar, Patrika, Pratahkal, Punjab Kesari, and Times. Arpit completed his schooling in Udaipur and Jaipur. He has been working in the media industry for more than 10 years, and his journey is still continuing. ✍️📚
Leave a Comment