The Centre has sought a review and asked the Supreme Court to refer to a seven-judge Bench on whether the creamy layer concept should apply or not to the Scheduled Castes / Scheduled Tribes while providing them reservation in promotions.
Crux of the Matter
The fresh petition was filed by Samta Andolan Samiti and O.P. Shukla, a former IAS officer.
The SC had earlier said that well-off SCs and STs cannot be granted benefits of reservations.
In September last year, a five-judge Bench had unanimously agreed with a 2006 judgment and had upheld the application of the creamy layer principle in promotions.
The 2018 judgment by Justice Rohinton F. Nariman also had refused the government’s plea to refer the 2006 Nagaraj case judgment to a seven-judge Bench.
On December 2, Attorney General K.K. Venugopal urged the court to reconsider the ruling and refer the Nagaraj case judgment to a seven-judge bench led by CJI Sharad A. Bobde, who has agreed to hear the case after two weeks.
Curiopedia
Scheduled Caste (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of historically disadvantaged people in India. The terms are recognised in the Constitution of India and the groups are designated in one or other of the categories. For much of the period of British rule in the Indian subcontinent, they were known as the Depressed Classes. They comprise about 16.6% and 8.6%, respectively, of India’s population (according to the 2011 census). The Constitution lists 1,108 castes across 29 states in its First Schedule, and 744 tribes across 22 states. Since the independence of India, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were given Reservation status, guaranteeing political representation. More Info
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