SC rejects Centre’s 2-yr plea to delay OBC creamy layer ruling

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday rejected the Centre’s request for two years to implement its ruling that the creamy layer status of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) cannot be determined solely on the basis of parental income. The court also refused to make the judgment prospective, reaffirming that its interpretation must apply to the allocation of services for candidates selected in the 2025 civil services examination, The Indian Express reported.

A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and R Mahadevan extended the implementation deadline by eight weeks after noting that the six-month period granted in its March 11 judgment had expired.

The bench said the allocation of services for the 2025 civil services examination, whose results were declared on March 6, 2026, was still pending. It directed that the creamy layer principle laid down in the March ruling must govern the allocation of services to selected OBC candidates.

However, the court clarified that the judgment would not automatically affect the seniority of others or reopen selections and appointments already completed before March 11. Similar claims pending before courts and other competent authorities may be decided independently on their merits.

The dispute arose from a 1993 government office memorandum and a 2004 clarification that treated salary income of PSU and private-sector employees differently from that of government employees while determining creamy layer status.

The court had held that salary income alone could not determine the status and that the category and position of a candidate’s parents must also be considered.

The bench said the government remained free to frame its own creamy layer criteria in accordance with the Constitution and the principles laid down in the judgment.