The Union Government has informed the Supreme Court that reservation benefits available to members of the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) cannot be curtailed on the basis of economic status, contending that the concept of a “creamy layer” is inapplicable to these constitutionally recognised communities.
In its written submissions before a Constitution Bench examining the issue of sub-classification within the SC and ST categories, the Centre asserted that social discrimination and historical exclusion suffered by these communities cannot be equated with economic advancement. It argued that financial prosperity alone does not erase the stigma and disadvantages associated with caste-based discrimination.
The Union submitted that introducing an income-based exclusion within the SC and ST categories would run contrary to the constitutional framework governing reservations. According to the Centre, the purpose of reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is to remedy centuries of structural discrimination and social marginalisation rather than economic backwardness.
The Centre further argued that the doctrine of “creamy layer”, evolved in the context of reservations for Other Backward Classes (OBCs), cannot automatically be extended to SCs and STs, whose constitutional status and the rationale for affirmative action are fundamentally different.
The submissions were made in proceedings arising from the Supreme Court’s judgment delivered in August 2024, wherein a seven-judge Constitution Bench held that States are constitutionally empowered to create sub-classifications within the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for the purpose of ensuring equitable distribution of reservation benefits. While the majority recognised the States’ power to identify comparatively more backward groups within these communities, certain observations in the judgment regarding the possible application of the creamy layer principle have since become the subject of further consideration.
The Union Government clarified that while it supports the principle of sub-classification to ensure that reservation benefits reach the most disadvantaged sections within the SC and ST communities, such an exercise should not be based on income or economic criteria.
It maintained that any policy designed to identify the most backward sections within these communities must be founded on constitutionally permissible parameters that reflect the continuing social and educational disadvantages suffered by different groups.
The Centre’s stand assumes significance as the Supreme Court continues to examine the contours of the 2024 Constitution Bench ruling and the extent to which States may restructure reservation benefits within the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes without undermining the constitutional guarantees available to them.
The matter is expected to be taken up for further hearing before the Constitution Bench, which will consider the submissions of the Union, the States and other stakeholders before settling the legal position on the implementation of sub-classification within the reserved categories.
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