OBC Creamy Layer: What the Supreme Court Clarified About Its Parental Salary Ruling
On 6 November 2026, the Supreme Court (Justices P.S. Narasimha and R. Mahadevan) decided a Miscellaneous Application filed by the Centre in Union of India v. Rohith Nathan. The Centre wanted the Court to explain how far its judgment of 11 March 2026 reaches.
In the March judgment, the Court had held that a candidate's OBC creamy layer status cannot be decided by parental salary alone. The post and category of the parent matter. A 2004 DoPT letter cannot change the rules of the 1993 Office Memorandum (OM), which leaves salary and farm income out of the income test.
The Centre said it was not asking for a review. It asked that completed selections, allocations and seniority not be reopened, and asked for two years to fix "equivalence" between PSU or private posts and government posts.
The Court clarified: the March directions apply to the parties before it; concluded selections, appointments, seniority and promotions will not be reopened; similar pending cases will be decided on their own merits; and all selections and roster allotments after 11 March 2026 must follow the 1993 OM as the Court read it.
The Court refused to fix any timeline for equivalence, saying it is a matter for the government and Parliament. It also held that its reading of the creamy layer rules will govern service allocation for OBC candidates of the Civil Services Examination 2025, whose services had not yet been allocated.
Creamy Layer in OBC Reservation: How It Is Decided
The creamy layer is the better-off section among the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). Members of the creamy layer cannot use the 27% OBC reservation in central government jobs and central educational institutions. The idea is that reservation should reach OBC families who still need help, not those who have already moved up. The rest are called the non-creamy layer (NCL).
The clarification settles how the March ruling works in practice. It protects past selections, but makes the "post, not salary" reading binding for every selection from 11 March 2026, including service allocation for the CSE 2025 batch. Fixing equivalence for PSU and private posts is left to the government.
Indra Sawhney v. Union of India (1992): The 50% Ceiling Rule
Indra Sawhney v. Union of India is the most important Supreme Court case on reservation in India. Decided in November 1992 by a nine-judge bench, it upheld 27% reservation for OBCs in central government jobs, which the Mandal Commission had recommended. It also laid down that the creamy layer of OBCs must be left out, and that total reservation should normally not cross 50%.
The whole creamy layer system, including the 1993 OM that the Court relied on in 2026, exists because Indra Sawhney ordered that well-off OBCs be excluded. The 2026 rulings are about how to apply that 1992 direction fairly to children of PSU and private sector employees.
Review Petition (Article 137): How the Supreme Court Reconsiders Its Own Judgments
A review petition is a request to the Supreme Court to look again at a judgment it has already given. The Constitution gives the Court this power in Article 137. Review is not a second appeal. It is a narrow door, meant only to fix a clear mistake, such as an error that anyone can see on the face of the judgment, or an important fact that could not be shown earlier.
The Centre filed a Miscellaneous Application, not a review petition, and told the Court it was not seeking a review of the creamy layer ruling, only a clarification of how far it reaches in time. The Court kept to that limit: it did not change its reading of the 1993 OM, but explained whom the ruling covers and protected concluded selections.
- March judgment: Union of India v. Rohith Nathan, 11 March 2026; clarification on 6 November 2026; bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and R. Mahadevan
- 1993 DoPT OM (8 September 1993): salary and agricultural income excluded from the income/wealth test
- DoPT letter of 14 October 2004 cannot override the 1993 OM
- Creamy layer income limit: ₹8 lakh a year (since 2017)
- OBC reservation in central jobs and central educational institutions: 27%
- Ruling applies to all selections and roster allotments after 11 March 2026, and to CSE 2025 service allocation (CSE 2025 result declared 6 March 2026)
- Centre's request for two years to fix post equivalence: Court set no timeline
- Review of Supreme Court judgments: Article 137; 30-day limit; decided by circulation