‘Parental income alone cannot set creamy layer status’, Pg14

Key Highlights:

• The Supreme Court ruled that determining the creamy layer status of OBC candidates for reservation cannot be based solely on parental income.
• The ruling potentially expands the reservation pool to include children of senior public sector officials.
• The court emphasized that parental income from salaries and agricultural land should be excluded when applying the income/wealth test.
• The judgment addresses confusion regarding the application of the income test for OBC children of PSU/PSB officials.

Detailed Insights:

• The creamy layer exclusion aims to ensure reservation benefits reach those without accumulated social and economic privileges.
• A 1993 charter initially declared certain OBC families ineligible based on occupations, including those in constitutional posts and senior government employees.
• Exceptions exist for children of MPs, promoted government officials, and owners of unirrigated agricultural land, subject to an income limit.
• The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) previously interpreted that parental salaries could be counted separately for PSU employees, which the court deemed discriminatory.
• The court stated that excluding candidates solely based on salary income, without considering their parents' positions, leads to unequal treatment.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Creamy Layer: A section of OBC that is considered forward and hence not eligible for reservation.
• Reservation: A policy of reserving percentage of seats in educational institutions, public sector jobs etc for specific groups.
• Other Backward Classes (OBC): A collective term used by the Government of India to classify castes which are disadvantaged.

OBC- CL