In March 2026, the Supreme Court of India ruled that an Other Backwards Classes (OBC) candidate’s creamy layer status cannot be determined solely on the basis of parental income. In November 2026, the SC further clarified the scope of this judgment.
The Supreme Court, on November 6 2026, affirmed that its judgment on determining the creamy layer status of OBC candidates would not reopen completed recruitment processes or appointments, while clarifying its scope and applicability. The government, however, must follow the revised interpretation of subsequent selections and appointments involving OBC reservation.
The March judgment declared that parental salary alone could not determine an OBC candidate’s creamy layer status. The nature and category of the posts held by the parents must also be considered, under the 1993 Office Memorandum, alongside the prescribed ‘income/wealth test’ as an additional criterion of exclusion.
The 1993 Office Memorandum issued by the centre further extended the same principle to employees of public sector undertakings (PSUs), banks, universities and similar institutions with an equivalent position in a government service. However, the exercise of establishing such equivalence was never undertaken. Subsequently, a clarificatory letter issued by the government in 2004 made the ‘income/wealth test’ the sole criterion for determining the creamy layer status of candidates whose parents were employed in these organisations.
The clarification has significant implications for OBC aspirants seeking government employment, particularly those whose eligibility for non-creamy layer reservation was previously rejected on the basis of parental salary. While completed appointments will remain unaffected, candidates in ongoing or subsequent recruitment processes will be assessed under the revised interpretation. The ruling is also relevant to OBC candidates selected through the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2025, whose service allocation will be governed by the March judgment.
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Image Credit: The Wire
Ananya Chaturvedi