Kharge: Govt should have nullified SC's 'creamy layer' ruling

Asserting that the idea of denying reservation to SCs and STs on account of the creamy layer concept is “condemnable”, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday said the government should have brought a legislation in Parliament to nullify the part of the recent Supreme Court judgement that talks about the issue.

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Earlier this month, a sevenjudge Bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud ruled in a 6:1 majority judgement that state governments were permitted to sub-classify communities within the SC list based on empirical data. Supreme Court judge Justice B R Gavai had said that states must evolve a policy for identifying the creamy layer even among the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Schedule Tribes (ST) and deny them the benefit of reservation.

“Who do you want to benefit by bringing a creamy layer? By bringing a creamy layer (concept) on one hand you are denying untouchables and giving to those who have enjoyed privileges for thousands of years. I condemn this,” Kharge said. This issue of creamy layer that has been raised by the seven judges shows that they have not thought about SCs and STs in a serious manner, he said.