Overview
- The court dismissed the Union government’s appeals and upheld rulings by the Madras, Delhi and Kerala High Courts on OBC non‑creamy layer claims.
- Judges held that counting only parental income—especially salaries of PSU or private employees—creates hostile discrimination and violates Articles 14, 15 and 16.
- The bench affirmed that the 1993 DoPT framework excludes salary and agricultural income from the income/wealth test and that post and status must be evaluated.
- Authorities were directed to re-evaluate affected candidates, with permission to create supernumerary posts to accommodate those found eligible under the clarified criteria.
- The decision is expected to aid roughly 100 UPSC candidates from recent batches whose OBC benefits were denied after income-only scrutiny tied to a 2004 clarification.