Supreme Court rules 'creamy layer' must be excluded from SC/ST reservations
New Delhi: In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court has mandated that the 'creamy layer' among Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) be excluded from reservation benefits. This decision aims to ensure that reservations reach those who are genuinely disadvantaged within these communities.
Currently, the 'creamy layer' concept applies exclusively to reservations for Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The Court’s judgment, delivered by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath, Bela Trivedi, Manoj Misra, and Satish Chandra Sharma, allows for the sub-classification of SCs and STs. Justice Trivedi was the sole dissenting voice.
The ruling requires states to develop a policy to identify and exclude the creamy layer among SCs and STs. Justice Gavai emphasized that this step is crucial for achieving true equality as guaranteed by the Constitution. He argued that individuals from SC backgrounds who have benefited from reservations should not be compared to those who have not received such benefits.
Justice Vikram Nath supported this view, asserting that the creamy layer principle applicable to OBCs should also be extended to SCs. Justice Pankaj Mithal proposed that reservations should be limited to the first generation, with subsequent generations not being eligible if the first generation has already benefited from them.
Justice Satish Chandra Sharma concurred with Justice Gavai, asserting that identifying the creamy layer within SCs and STs should be a constitutional imperative.
The ruling builds on the 2018 decision in Jarnail Singh v. Lacchmi Narain Gupta, where the Court had observed that applying the creamy layer principle to SCs and STs does not alter the Presidential List under Articles 341 and 342 of the Constitution. Justice RF Nariman, in that case, noted that the purpose of reservations is to uplift backward classes to ensure they can compete equally with other citizens, which is undermined if the creamy layer within these classes monopolizes reservation benefits.
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ED arrests 'absconding' ex-Haryana Congress MLA Dharam Singh Chhoker
New Delhi (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate has arrested "absconding" former Haryana Congress MLA Dharam Singh Chhoker, official sources said Monday.
The 61-year-old ex-legislator is understood to have been taken into custody from a hotel in Delhi on Sunday. He will be produced before a court in Gurugram on Monday.
Chhoker is a former MLA from the Samalkha assembly seat in Panipat district. He lost the Haryana assembly polls last year after his party gave him the ticket to contest from the same seat again.
Chhoker, his sons Vikas Chhoker (absconding) and Sikandar Chhoker face charges of "cheating" more than 1,500 homebuyers and siphoning over Rs 500 crore funds from them.
Sikandar was arrested by the ED last year and he is currently out on bail.
A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court has issued multiple non-bailable warrants against Dharam Singh Chhoker and Vikas Chhoker. The agency had issued a proclamation against them and directed them to appear before the court on May 19, the ED had said in March.
The money laundering case stems from a Gurugram Police FIR filed against Sai Aaina Farms and associated companies.
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