SC rejects raise of creamy layer limit to Rs 3 lakh in Kerala

New Delhi, Feb 23 (UNI) The Supreme Court today quashed the Justice K K Narendran Commission report which had raised the limit of creamy layer families among the reserved categories from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs three lakh in Kerala.

A bench comprising Justices S B Sinha and P P Naolekar directed the Kerala government to appoint a fresh committee for ascertaining the criteria for exclusion of creamy layer from the benefits of reservation.

The court, however, made it clear that the benefits of reservation, given both in jobs and admissions to educational institutions, on the basis of the recommendation of Narendran Commission, shall not be disturbed.

The court also kept pending the contempt of court proceedings initiated suo motu against Kerala Chief Secretary for not complying with the directions of this court in Mandal Commission case, which directed the exclusion of creamy layer from the benefits of reservation among the OBCs.

The apex court had appointed Justice K J Joseph Committee to go into the entire gamut of reservation policy and to lay down the criteria for exclusion of creamy layer.

The Joseph Committee recomended that families having an annual income of more than Rs 1.5 lakh will be included in the category of creamy layer.

The Kerala government brought a legislation which said there existed no creamy layer in the state of Kerala and the Kerala State Backward Classes (reservation of appointments or post in the services under the state) Act, 1995. The act was challenged in the court and this court appointed Joseph Committee.

In order to nullify the recommendations of Joseph Committee, Kerala government appointed Justice K K Narendran Commission whose recommendations were virtually in conformity with the impugned Act of 1995.

Narendran Commission recommended that for determination of creamy layer among OBCs, the minimum annual income of the head of the family should be Rs three lakh, which means that the income of other family members and income of the family from other sources like agriculture, business or industry was not to be taken in account.

The nine judge bench of this court in 1992, in Indira Sawhney case popularly known as Mandal Commission case, had laid down two important directions, firstly, creamy layer has to be excluded from the benefits of reservation and secondly, reservations can not continue indefinitely and granted five years time to the authorities to phase out the reservations and the upper limit of 50 per cent was also fixed for providing reservations.

With today's judgement, the apex court decided a bunch of petitions.

UNI