Centre awaits Supreme Court nod to allocate services to 958 CSE 2025 candidates

The Centre is awaiting directions from the Supreme Court on challenges in implementing its March 11 judgment on the criteria for determining the creamy layer status of Other Backward Classes candidates in the civil services examination, news agency Press Trust of India reported, citing sources.

The Department of Personnel and Training has sought permission to allocate services to the 958 candidates recommended by the Union Public Service Commission for the Civil Services Examination 2025 under the OBC creamy layer criteria applied before the verdict. The department and training institutes are prepared to allocate services and begin the foundation course at the earliest, the sources told PTI.

The plea follows the Supreme Court's judgment in the Union of India versus Rohith Nathan case. The court held that the creamy layer status for OBC reservation could not be determined solely on the basis of parental income. It also said treating similarly placed employees of private entities and public sector undertakings differently from government employees for reservation purposes would amount to hostile discrimination.

The CSE 2025 results were declared on March 6, five days before the judgment. Service allocation was yet to be finalised when the verdict was delivered.

After the results, the DoPT examined the challenges arising from the judgment, including its implications for service and cadre allocation, existing seniority and gradation, past recruitment and the implementation of the OBC reservation policy.

On August 24, the department filed a miscellaneous application in the Supreme Court seeking clarification and directions on implementing the judgment, the sources said. As service allocation is difficult to reverse once completed, the DoPT has sought the court's directions before proceeding.

The delay in starting the foundation course will not affect the seniority, gradation or other service conditions of CSE 2025 candidates, according to the sources.

The Supreme Court dismissed the civil appeals filed by the Union government and directed it to create additional posts to accommodate the respondents and intervenors in the case within six months, in line with the principles laid down in the judgment.

The DoPT examined the verdict's implications for various recruitment processes, including service and cadre allocation under CSE 2025, as well as orders passed by high courts and tribunals. The matter required a comprehensive review in consultation with the UPSC, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and the Ministry of Law and Justice, the sources told PTI.

The exercise included compiling candidate data covering 14 years of the civil services examination and assessing the possible effects on existing seniority and gradation, related claims and the OBC reservation policy nationwide.

The department observed that implementing the judgment could have a wide impact on the OBC reservation policy and on recruitment by other Union government departments and state governments. It also raised concerns over the absence of a clear criterion, such as salary, to identify the creamy layer among OBC candidates whose parents work outside government service or do not hold constitutional posts.

According to the sources, the DoPT said the absence of such a criterion could raise concerns over compliance with Article 14, which guarantees equality before the law, and could lead to further litigation.

Implementation could also affect past recruitment conducted by the UPSC, Staff Selection Commission, Railway Recruitment Boards, Institute of Banking Personnel Selection and other agencies. Requests for retrospective service allocation could arise, while previous decisions involving candidates denied non-creamy layer status on the basis of salary could be reviewed, the sources said.

The department also considered the possible impact on the seniority and gradation of officers already in service. The respondents and intervenors could receive batch seniority corresponding to their years of selection without going through the promotion process based on performance appraisal, work experience and vacancies, according to the sources.

The DoPT noted that implementation could adversely affect the criteria used to exclude candidates from OBC non-creamy layer status. It could also discriminate against other OBC candidates who relied on existing government instructions and did not approach the competent authority for non-creamy layer certificates.

Retrospective implementation could require service reallocation and cadre changes for officers who have served for more than a decade, potentially leading to a continuing process of revising service allocation and cadre placement, the sources said. Similar issues could also arise in admissions to higher educational institutions where decisions have already become final.

The Centre issued an office memorandum on September 8, 1993, specifying who would fall within the OBC creamy layer. It followed this with a clarification on October 14, 2004.

The Supreme Court noted that the 1993 memorandum excluded salary and agricultural earnings from the income and wealth test used to determine creamy layer status, while the 2004 clarification directed that the salary income of PSU and private sector employees be included.

“It is evident from a comprehensive reading of the 1993 OM along with the clarificatory letter dated October 14, 2004 that income from salaries alone cannot be the sole criterion to decide whether a candidate falls within the creamy layer,” the Supreme Court said.

“The status as well as the category of post to which a candidate's parent or parents belong is essential. Mere determination of the status of a candidate as to whether he/she falls within the creamy or the non-creamy layer of the OBCs cannot be decided solely on the basis of the income,” it added.

The Centre is, therefore, waiting for the Supreme Court's directions before allocating services to the 958 CSE 2025 candidates, while the DoPT assesses the judgment's wider implications for recruitment, reservation, seniority and cadre allocation.

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