SC admits petition challenging creamy layer criteria for quota
The Supreme Court admitted a bunch of petitions challenging the Centre's decision to fix Rs 4.50 lakh as the minimum annual income for the people among Other Backward Classes (OBCs) to be regarded as "creamy layer" or elite who would not be eligible for various benefits.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia decided to examine the rationale behind the Centre's 13th October 2008, order that raised the income criterion to Rs. 450,000 from Rs.250,000.
While admitting the petitions challenging the income criteria for determining the creamy layer, the Bench, also comprising Justices K S Radhakrihnan and Swatanter Kumar, asked the Centre to put on affidavit the assumptions on the basis of inflation etc that was considered for determining the figure Rs 4.50 lakhs.
The apex court had on 15th December 2008, issued a notice to the Centre on the petitions challenging the revision of the income criterion for determining creamy layer among Other Backward for admission to educational institutions.
Noted academician P.V. Indiresan and the others, including civil rights body Nair Service Society of Kerala, have questioned the government notification.
The notification provided that a backward category person would be regarded as an elite or creamy lawyer within the community only if his or her annual income is at least Rs.450,000 or above.
In that case, the person would lose reservation benefits, including those in state jobs or admission in educational institutions.
The government changed the income criterion after the apex court's 10th April ruling.
A constitution bench of the apex court had on 10th April, while upholding the law for 27 percent quota for OBC category students in state-run institutions of higher learning, stipulated that students belonging to the 'creamy layer' have to be kept out of the quota.
Arguing for Indiresan, senior counsel K.K. Venugopal said the Government's 13th October notification would defeat the very purpose of the 10th April ruling.
Venugopal argued that the notification would ensure that no person among the backward category is dubbed as belonging to the 'creamy layer' and stand to lose reservation benefits as envisaged by the apex court ruling.
To point out the illegalities of the government's notification, Venugopal had also recalled arguments of the Centre before the constitution bench during the hearing of the lawsuits challenging the legality of the reservation law.
He had recalled that the Centre had argued that 97.7 percent of backward category people earn a daily salary of Rs.80, which adds up to an annual earning of less than Rs.29,000.
He had said that with 97.7 percent backward category people earning a maximum of Rs.29,000 annually, only a few among them could be assumed to be earning Rs.450,000 annually.
This implies that virtually nobody could be included in the 'creamy layer' and the quota in educational institutions would be virtually available for all OBCs.
This would defeat the very purpose of the apex court ruling, he had said when the notice was issued.
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