Supreme Court seeks reply from Center on creamy layer (Photo-Jagran)
Digital Desk, New Delhi. In a significant step, the Supreme Court on Tuesday sought response from the Central Government on petitions seeking to set criteria to exclude the 'creamy layer' (affluent class) of Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) from the benefits of reservation in admissions to educational institutions and government jobs.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice NV Anjaria was hearing petitions filed by OP Shukla and Samata Andolan Samiti.
Referring to the historic decision of 1 August 2024
In these petitions, mainly there has been a demand to implement the historic decision given by the seven judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court on August 1, 2024. In that judgment the Court had ruled by a majority of 6:1 that state governments were constitutionally empowered to make sub-classifications within the Scheduled Castes.
Its objective is to give priority to those castes which are more socially and educationally backward. The then Chief Justice BR Gavai had clarified in that decision that 'the principle of creamy layer also applies to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and this is the correct position of law.'
Based on this comment in the petitions, a demand has been made to issue guidelines to the Center and the states. Demand for data and time limit The petitioners have requested the Court to direct the Center and the States to collect data on the lack of representation of sub-categorized SC-STs in 'Union and State Services'.
The petition said, 'The Center and the State should decide the criteria on the basis of which the affluent people of SC-ST category can be kept out of reservation, so that the truly deprived groups can get its benefit.'
Apart from this, the petitions have also sought to fix a fixed deadline so that the more backward sub-groups can get priority as soon as possible. The court has currently asked the Center to file its reply and has postponed the hearing of the case for some time.
(With inputs from news agency PTI)
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