The Supreme Court has declined to issue directions to exclude the children of IAS, IPS, and similar officers from the ambit of reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) in Madhya Pradesh.
A Bench comprising Justice BR Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih emphasized that decisions on whether individuals belonging to the creamy layer, who have already availed quota benefits, should be excluded from reservation fall within the domain of the executive and legislature.
“It is for the executive and the legislature to decide whether to provide reservation or not. It is an enabling provision. We have given our view: considering the past seventy-five years, those who have already availed of the benefit and are in a position to compete with others should be excluded from the reservation. But this is a call for the executive and legislature to take,” the Court noted.
The petitioner had urged the Court to direct the state to frame a policy on the reservation, pointing out that recruitment processes across 21 departments were proceeding without the exclusion of the creamy layer.
The petitioner’s counsel argued that the High Court had shown reluctance to entertain the petition and sought intervention by citing the Vishakha and Others v. State of Rajasthan precedent, where courts framed interim policies in the absence of state action.
However, the Supreme Court reiterated that reservation is an enabling provision, and policymaking in this regard is the prerogative of the legislature and executive.
The petitioner’s counsel highlighted that a Constitution Bench had previously directed states to formulate such policies and raised concerns about the six-month delay in action.
Despite these submissions, the Bench refused to pass any directions. “We are not inclined,” it stated.
“The petitioner then sought permission to withdraw the plea with the liberty to file a representation before the appropriate authority, which the Court granted. “Allowed with liberty to take such steps as are permissible in law,” it directed.
In August 2024, a seven-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court upheld the power of states to sub-classify reserved category groups, such as SC/STs, based on their inter se backwardness to extend reservation benefits.
Four out of the seven judges in that judgment advocated for identifying the creamy layer among SC/STs to exclude them from the ambit of affirmative action.
Currently, the principle of creamy layer applies exclusively to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and not to SC/STs.
However, the call for identifying the creamy layer among SC/STs aims to ensure that reservation benefits are directed toward the most disadvantaged individuals within these communities.
