Supreme Court refuses to defer OBC creamy layer ruling by two years, rejecting Centre's plea

The Supreme Court has rejected the Central government's plea to defer by two years the implementation of its judgment on determining the creamy layer in OBC reservation. Directing that the judgment of 11 March 2026 be implemented, the court also declined the request that it apply only to future recruitment. Service allocation for 958 candidates of the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2025 will therefore be done under the new criteria.

In its March judgment, the Supreme Court had made clear that a parent's salary or income alone cannot be the sole yardstick when determining the OBC creamy layer. The court had said the parent's post, its category and social status must also be considered.

The Centre had sought a two-year reprieve, citing apprehension about the effect on the recruitment process, seniority and promotions. According to the Centre, more than 5,69,000 reserved posts filled between 2016 and 2025 could be affected. It had therefore asked for time to determine the equivalence of posts and for protection for processes carried out under the old criteria.

A bench of Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Justice R. Mahadevan rejected the Centre's main demands. The bench made clear that selection processes and appointments completed before 11 March will not be reopened. Seniority and promotions granted before that date will also remain protected. Pending claims of people in similar situations will be examined separately by the concerned courts and authorities.

The court has directed that service allocation for the 958 candidates be done strictly in line with the 11 March judgment. The Centre has been given eight weeks to implement the original judgment. The Centre has thus not received major relief from the Supreme Court on the creamy layer criteria.