SC to set up special bench to hear plea on OBC creamy-layer criteria

The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to consider setting up a special bench to hear Centre’s plea seeking clarification on the applicability of its March 11 judgement on OBC creamy-layer criteria to candidates of the Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2025.

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) seeks directions allowing the Government to proceed with service allocation of the 958 candidates recommended by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for CSE-2025 on the basis of the OBC creamy-layer determination applied before the March 11 verdict.

At the outset of day’s proceedings, a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana was told by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, that the DoPT has filed a miscellaneous application in a disposed of matter seeking some urgent directions and it has to be listed before a bench headed by Justice PS Narasimha.

Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, appearing for a litigant, said that a bench comprising Justices Narasimha and R Mahadevan had passed the order on March 11 and the instant miscellaneous application has to be heard by the same bench as the judges sit in different combinations now.

“We will have to set up a special bench,” the CJI said, adding that he will speak with the judges and set up the bench.

The DoPT’s plea arises from the top court’s judgement in a case titled as Union of India vs Rohith Nathan, in which the court, on March 11, held, among other things, that the October 14, 2004, clarifying letter could not override the September 8, 1993, office memorandum governing identification of the OBC creamy layer.

The court also held that the salary or income of a parent employed in a public sector undertaking or the private sector could not by itself be treated as the determinative criterion for creamy-layer exclusion.

The status and category of the parent’s post, along with the prescribed income/wealth test, were to be considered in accordance with the 1993 office memorandum.

The Government, while stating that it is bound by the Supreme Court’s ruling, has said that applying the judgment mechanically to CSE-2025 could result in unequal treatment of candidates who were similarly placed but acted differently based on the legal position prevailing when the examination was conducted.

According to the application, the CSE-2025 notification was issued on January 22, 2025, the preliminary examination was held on May 25, 2025, and the main examination was conducted from August 22 to 31.

The UPSC declared the final result on March 6, 2026, recommending 958 candidates for appointment to the IAS, IFS, IPS and other central services.

The top court delivered the Rohith Nathan judgement just five days later, on March 11.

The Centre has pointed out that candidates whose parents were employed in PSUs or the private sector and whose income exceeded the prescribed ceiling could, under the interpretation prevailing at the time, have considered themselves ineligible for OBC (non-creamy layer) benefits.

Some such candidates, the application says, may consequently have contested CSE-2025 only in the general category, while others may not have applied under the OBC category at all.

They may also have foregone benefits such as the three-year upper age relaxation and additional attempts available to OBC (non-creamy layer) candidates.

The Government said that candidates who had applied under the OBC category but were subsequently found ineligible could potentially benefit from a fresh assessment in light of the March 11 judgement.