Centre Seeks 2-Year Window To Implement Top Court's OBC Creamy Layer Verdict

The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to examine the Centre's plea seeking a prospective application of its March 11 verdict that had held that the salary or income of a parent employed in a PSU or the private sector could not by itself be treated as the determinative criterion for creamy-layer exclusion for the Other Backward Classes (OBC).

The Centre, represented by Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, urged a bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana that the verdict be given a prospective effect, seeking a two-year window to implement the law laid down by the court and prevent disruption to past and ongoing recruitment processes.

The top court took note of the submissions of the law officer that various high courts have entertained petitions concerning the judgment.

Bhati said the Centre has moved the petition seeking a transfer of cases from various high courts to the top court or one high court.

In a case titled Union of India Vs Rohith Nathan, the apex court held on March 11 that the salary or income of a parent employed in a public sector undertaking or the private sector could not by itself be treated as the determinative criterion for creamy-layer exclusion.

The status and the category of the parent's post, along with the prescribed income or wealth test, were to be considered in accordance with the 1993 office memorandum.

"It is submitted that this court has power under Article 142 of the Constitution to declare its judgment prospective. If the judgment is not given a prospective effect, it will entail several harsh and unjust unintended consequences on employees or appointees who were not even parties to the litigation and complete administrative chaos.

"It is, therefore, prayed that the judgment dated March 11, 2026, be given a prospective effect so that ongoing and past recruitment processes are not affected," the Centre has said in its plea.

The government has sought a "limited prospective overruling" of the judgment, saying its immediate application to earlier and ongoing recruitment can unsettle seniority, cadre allocation and appointments of candidates who were not parties to the litigation.

The Centre has not sought to dilute the judgment itself, but has requested that its operationalisation be deferred by two years to allow it to adjust competing rights, address administrative contingencies and undertake an "effective equivalence exercise".

On September 1, another top-court bench headed by Justice P S Narasimha, who had authored the judgment, had agreed to consider another plea of the Centre seeking clarification on the applicability of its March 11 verdict on the OBC creamy-layer criteria on candidates of the Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2025. 

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