On Thursday, the Central Government told the apex court that it cannot apply the concept of ‘creamy layer’ (economically sound) to exempt the SC/ST community from the benefits of quota in promotions to government employees, reported PTI.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra and constituting of Justices Kurian Joseph, R F Nariman, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Indu Malhotra are examining whether the verdict of 2006 in M Nagaraj Vs Union of India case, where it abated the creamy layer concept in job promotions in SC/STs should be reconsidered by a seven-judge bench.
Attorney General KK Venugopal told the five-judge Constitution bench that the benefits of quota cannot be snatched away from the ‘creamy layer’ as the stigma of belonging to a backward caste remains with them. He added that only the President and the Parliament, not the judiciary, have the right to exclude a certain class from SC/ST quota benefits.
Venugopal said, “They have to marry from their own caste. Even a well-off person of SC/ST community cannot marry from a higher caste. The fact that some persons have become affluent does not take away the imprint of caste and backwardness”, quoted PTI.
He asserted that SCs/STs are a “homogenous group and any action to regroup them based on economic or social advancement would not be appropriate,” reported The Hindu.
On August 3, the Supreme Court had asked that why the states have not submitted ‘quantifiable data’ to determine ‘inadequacy’ of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in government jobs.
According to the 2006 verdict of the apex court, it forbids the state governments to introduce quota in the promotion of SC/STs in the government jobs unless it is proved that the particular community is backward and ‘inadequately represented’. The state will also have to keep in mind that such reservation does not affect the overall administrative efficiency.