The question of excluding the creamy layer from Dalit reservations 

November 19, 2025

Chief Justice B.R. Gavai, speaking at a ceremony in Amravati before his retirement, stated that he wanted to send a message that just as the creamy layer principle applies to reservations for Other Backward Classes, the creamy layer principle should also apply to Scheduled Castes and other Dalit communities, i.e., the Scheduled Tribes. Currently, the creamy layer principle is not applicable to reservations for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.

However, it was implemented for Other Backward Classes. CJI Gavai stated that he had been raising this issue for the past year, but it had not yet been accepted. As for the census, it has also included sub-caste censuses, thus allowing backward and extremely backward classes to receive separate reservations. The root cause of unrest and chaos in Manipur is that another sub-caste is demanding reservations, while the majority Meitei community opposes it, considering the Kuki community to be outsiders. Violence has been raging there of late. President’s rule is now in effect there. The Chief Justice stated that while reservation has become a reality in India, and it appears that political rivalry will limit it to over 50 percent, even though flexibility has been declared in Bihar, the argument is: can the son of an IAS officer enjoy the same reservation benefits as the son of a poor or agricultural laborer? Once a reservation is granted and a young person is selected to become an IAS officer, their son should not also receive the same reservation benefits.

In fact, if the creamy layer principle is implemented in the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes along with the Other Backward Classes, then reservations could be granted to sub-caste backward classes that emerge in the new census. The CJI’s statement could be controversial because families from backward and Dalit classes who have already enjoyed reservations once want the same benefits for their sons and grandchildren. Now that they have become an influential class in the country, they are reluctant to allow the creamy layer principle to be removed for the benefit of their future generations. The sub-category data we will receive from the 2028 census will make many more sub-castes eligible for reservation. Those who have already received reservations are reluctant to give them up, and with the rise of Dalit consciousness, new sub-categories will demand reservations, as is happening in Manipur.

Clearly, this could sow the seeds of internal conflict. This conflict could escalate into violence, as is happening in tribal areas like Manipur and Chhattisgarh. The only solution is to withdraw reservations from those who have risen above the level of their status and give them to the deprived who are now being counted. However, reservations also have their own politics.
In today’s new culture of appeasement, it is very difficult to withdraw a privilege once granted. Therefore, it remains to be seen how effective CJI Gavai’s suggestion will be, as the culture today is about distributing freebies, not taking them back. Therefore, CJI Gavai has given this advice to change this policy of Reservation +, but only the future will tell whether it will be implemented or not.