Meghwal accuses Oppn of creating confusion over cream layer sighting

He also said the government should present a bill to Parliament that would overturn the part of the recent Supreme Court ruling that deals with the issue | (Photo: PTI)

2 minutes of reading Last update: August 11, 2024 | 12:47 PM IST

Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal accused the Opposition of creating confusion among people over the Supreme Court’s “observation” regarding the “creamy layer” between SCs and STs and said the Constitution framed by BR Ambedkar does not have any provisions for the “creamy layer”.

In an interview to PTI Videos, he said the BJP-led NDA government will uphold the Ambedkar Constitution and continue the reservation system for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as per its provisions.

Meghwal noted that though the opposition is aware that the top court has only made an “observation” about the creamy layer, it is still trying to create confusion among the people.

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday said the idea of denying reservation to SCs and STs on the grounds of creamy layer concept is “condemnable”

He also said the government should submit a bill to Parliament to overturn the part of the recent Supreme Court ruling that deals with this issue.

Meghwal said the top court had said that if states wanted to, they could do the sub-classification. However, the Supreme Court had not taken any decision on the creamy layer. It was an observation, he said.

“There is a difference between directing and observing,” he reminded the opposition.

Earlier this month, a seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud ruled by a 6-1 majority that the state government has the right to sub-classify communities in the Supreme Court list based on empirical data.

Supreme Court Justice BR Gavai said states must frame a policy to identify the creamy layer even among Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) and deny them the benefits of reservation.

Justice Gavai wrote a separate but concurring judgment in which the apex court by a majority held that states have the right to sub-classify Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for the purpose of granting quotas under the reserved category to support persons belonging to less privileged castes.

The union cabinet met on Friday, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to discuss in detail the Supreme Court ruling on sub-categories of reservation for SCs and STs as per the provisions of the Constitution.

“The Union Cabinet strongly believes that the NDA government is a staunch supporter of the provisions of the Constitution as laid down by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar,” Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters.

(Only the headline and image of the report may have been edited by the Business Standard team; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)

First published: August 11, 2024 | 12:47 PM IST