Indra Sawhney case:
- In 1992, a nine-judge Bench of the court in the Indra Sawhney case (also known as the Mandal case), upheld the caste-based reservation for the OBCs as valid.
- The court also said the creamy layer of the OBCs (those earning a specified income) should not get the benefits of reservation.
- The ruling, however, confined the exclusion of the creamy layer to the OBCs and not the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).
Petition by Samta Andolan Samiti:
- Now, a petition filed by Samta Andolan Samiti, which represents the poor strata of the SCs/STs in Rajasthan, wants the creamy layer or Rich among the SCs/STs to be excluded from the benefits of Reservation.
View of Union Government:
- Union government has replied in the supreme court (SC) that the creamy layer concept couldn’t be applied to SCs/STs.
- Arguments given:
- Backwardness can never be changed and that there were still instances of upper castes not employing lower castes in their homes.
- An intense investigation is undertaken before notifying the community under Articles 341 and 342.
SC/ST are a homogeneous group and any action to regroup them based on economic or social advancement would not be apt.
