Centre pleads for prospective effect of SC creamy layer ruling

Stating that the judgment’s operation to all appointments and admissions made in the past will result in a “complete administrative chaos” the Centre urged the court to make the decision to apply prospectively and requested for a two-year period to work out equivalent posts similar to Group A and B officers in the government for identifying creamy layer among persons employed with public sector undertakings (PSU) and private employment.

A bench of justices PS Narasimha and R Mahadevan told the Centre that its judgment gave them six months time to implement the judgment. Yet, their application seeking modification came to be filed in the fag end of August as it questioned what the Centre did during the past few months.

The Centre led by solicitor general Tushar Mehta and additional solicitor general (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati said that the application does not question the judgment. “The Union government is only praying for a limited deferral of the operationalisation of the law laid down by this court for a period of two years so that the competing rights can be adjusted consistent with the administrative contingencies and an effective equivalence exercise is carried out.”