Creamy layer exclusion and caste-plus-backwardness test sustain OBC reservation in higher education.

Article 15(5) was treated as a valid enabling provision for reservation in State-maintained and aided educational institutions, while its application to private unaided institutions was left open. Reservation for Other Backward Classes under the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admissions) Act, 2006 was sustainable only if backwardness was not identified by caste alone and the creamy layer was excluded. Caste could serve only as a starting point, with advanced sections excluded to preserve a genuinely backward class. The Government of India Office Memorandum dated 8.9.1993 governed creamy layer determination. The 27% OBC reservation was upheld subject to this constitutional construction.

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Issues: (i) whether clause (5) of Article 15 of the Constitution of India is valid insofar as it enables reservation in educational institutions; (ii) whether identification of Other Backward Classes solely on the basis of caste and the omission to exclude the creamy layer can sustain reservation under the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admissions) Act, 2006; (iii) what parameters govern determination of the creamy layer; and (iv) whether 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes under the Act is valid.

Issue (i): whether clause (5) of Article 15 of the Constitution of India is valid insofar as it enables reservation in educational institutions.

Analysis: Clauses (3), (4) and (5) of Article 15 are independent enabling provisions and operate harmoniously. Clause (5) does not render clause (4) ineffective, and the challenge to the constitutional validity of clause (5) was not accepted in relation to State maintained and aided educational institutions. The question whether clause (5) would be unconstitutional in its application to private unaided educational institutions was left open.

Conclusion: Article 15(5) was upheld to the extent indicated, and the challenge to it failed.

Issue (ii): whether identification of Other Backward Classes solely on the basis of caste and the omission to exclude the creamy layer can sustain reservation under the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admissions) Act, 2006.

Analysis: Backwardness cannot be determined by caste alone as caste is not the final test of social and educational backwardness. Caste may be the starting point for identification only if the advanced sections of that caste, namely the creamy layer, are excluded. Without such exclusion, the class is not a compact backward class and reservation would improperly benefit the advanced sections. On that basis, reservation under the Act would be unconstitutional if caste is treated as the sole criterion or if the creamy layer is not excluded; conversely, the Act can survive if the definition of Other Backward Classes is understood to require exclusion of the creamy layer.

Conclusion: identification solely on caste was impermissible, creamy layer exclusion was mandatory, and the Act was valid only on that construction.

Issue (iii): what parameters govern determination of the creamy layer.

Analysis: The existing Office Memorandum of 8.9.1993 of the Government of India was accepted as the applicable basis for determining creamy layer status.

Conclusion: the Office Memorandum dated 8.9.1993 governed creamy layer determination.

Issue (iv): whether 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes under the Act is valid.

Analysis: The percentage of reservation was not found illegal, subject to the constitutional requirement that the beneficiary class be identified in a manner consistent with exclusion of the creamy layer.

Conclusion: 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes was upheld.

Final Conclusion: The constitutional challenge was substantially rejected, with the reservation scheme sustained subject to the requirement that OBC identification must exclude the creamy layer and cannot rest on caste alone.

Ratio Decidendi: A backward class for the purpose of reservation must be identified on a constitutionally valid basis, and exclusion of the creamy layer is essential where caste is used only as a starting point for determining social and educational backwardness.

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