NEW DELHI, Aug 25: The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to constitute a special bench to hear the Centre’s plea seeking clarification on the applicability of its March 11 judgment on OBC creamy-layer criteria to candidates selected through the Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2025.
The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has sought directions permitting the government to proceed with service allocation for 958 candidates recommended by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), based on the OBC creamy-layer criteria that were in force before the March 11 verdict.
At the outset of the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, informed a bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant that the DoPT had filed a miscellaneous application in a disposed matter seeking urgent directions.
The bench, comprising the CJI and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, was told that the application needed to be heard by the bench headed by Justice P S Narasimha, which had delivered the March 11 judgment.
Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, appearing for a litigant, also submitted that the application should be heard by Justices Narasimha and R Mahadevan, who had passed the earlier order.
“We will have to set up a special bench,” the Chief Justice said, adding that he would consult the judges and constitute the bench.
The Centre’s plea stems from the Supreme Court’s March 11 judgment in Union of India vs Rohith Nathan. The court had held, among other things, that a 2004 clarification could not override the 1993 Office Memorandum governing identification of the OBC creamy layer.
The court had also ruled that the salary or income of a parent employed in a PSU or the private sector could not, by itself, determine creamy-layer status. The parent’s post and status, along with the prescribed income or wealth criteria, were required to be considered under the 1993 guidelines.
The Centre has said it is bound by the judgment but argued that applying it retrospectively to CSE-2025 could lead to unequal treatment of candidates who had relied on the rules prevailing when the examination process was conducted.
The CSE-2025 notification was issued on January 22, 2025, while the preliminary examination was held on May 25 and the main examination from August 22 to 31. The UPSC declared the final results on March 6, 2026, recommending 958 candidates for various services.
The Supreme Court delivered its judgment on March 11, just five days after the final results.
According to the Centre, some candidates whose parents worked in PSUs or the private sector and whose income exceeded the prescribed ceiling may have considered themselves ineligible for OBC (non-creamy layer) benefits under the prevailing interpretation.
Such candidates may have applied only under the general category or refrained from claiming OBC benefits, including age relaxation and additional attempts available to OBC (non-creamy layer) candidates.
The government has argued that reopening the creamy-layer determination at this stage could require fresh verification of parental employment and post status and potentially affect candidates who had never applied under the OBC category.
The Centre has also pointed to the proposed Foundation Course for CSE-2025 recruits at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie, saying any delay in service allocation could affect training, cadre allocation, seniority and pay fixation.
Invoking the doctrine of prospective overruling, the Centre has urged the Supreme Court to allow the CSE-2025 selection process to be finalised based on the OBC creamy-layer criteria applicable before the March 11 judgment.
The government clarified that its plea does not seek to dilute or bypass the Supreme Court’s ruling, but only seeks directions on its implementation in the specific case of CSE-2025.
