Centre opposes SC/ST creamy layer citing Articles 341 and 342

Gist - The Union government recently informed the Supreme Court that it strongly opposes the application of the creamy layer principle to Scheduled Castes SCs and Scheduled Tribes STs . - The Centre contends that denying affirmative action benefits to affluent individuals effectively alters the official beneficiary lists , a constitutional authority vested strictly in Parliament , not the judiciary. - For civil services aspirants, this legal friction highlights the crucial conceptual distinction between sub-categorisation internally redistributing quotas among vulnerable subgroups and creamy layer exclusion entirely stripping affluent individuals of their reservation eligibility . Background - The current controversy stems from the August 2024 Supreme Court verdict in the State of Punjab v. Davinder Singh case, where a seven-judge Constitution Bench permitted state governments to execute sub-categorisation to combat "graded inequality" among SC/ST communities. - While the majority judgment greenlit internal quota redistribution, a concurring opinion by Justice B.R. Gavai controversially recommended formulating a creamy layer policy to prevent advanced SC/ST families from monopolising these benefits. - Historically, shaped by the landmark Indra Sawhney judgment 1992 , the creamy layer…