Centre opposes creamy layer for SC/ST quotas

The India — India, through the India — Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, filed an affidavit with the India — Supreme Court of India opposing the extension of the 'creamy layer' principle to reservations for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). The government argued that SC/ST reservations are based on historical and social discrimination, not economic status, and that any change to reservation policy requires legislative action and empirical study, not judicial intervention. The affidavit responded to public interest litigations filed by Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay and Ramashankar Prajapati, who sought income-based preferences within reserved categories. The government cited precedents such as Indra Sawhney and Ashoka Kumar Thakur, which confined the creamy layer to OBCs. India — Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati publicly opposed the creamy layer for SC/STs and criticized the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and its chief Mohan Bhagwat for allegedly politicizing the issue, urging respect for B. R. Ambedkar's Constitution.