Salary from private sector employment cannot be excluded in ‘Creamy Layer’ assessment: Kerala HC

The test for including individuals employed in the private sector in the Creamy Layer category is to assess their income and wealth, observes Kerala High Court. | Photo Credit: The Hindu Photo Library Excluding the salary income of individuals employed in the private sector would lead to anomalous situations contrary to the principles of the constitution of ‘Creamy Layer’, observed the Kerala High Court.The Bench made the observations in a petition filed by two students to include them in the ‘non-creamy layer’ category for claiming reservation in admissions to professional degree courses. Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas held that the students were not entitled to the non-creamy layer certificate, since both their parents have high income and wealth, exceeding the ₹8 lakh limit prescribed for assessing the category. The test for including individuals employed in the private sector in the Creamy Layer category is to assess their income and wealth. The students had contended that, as per law, the salary income was liable to be excluded and that they were entitled to a Non-Creamy Layer certificate to claim the benefit of reservation.The court held that if the petitioners’ interpretation of the law were adopted, the deserving amongst the backward classes would be deprived of opportunities. It observed that “enabling the Creamy Layer to grab the benefits of reservation, subdue and suppress the voice of the Non-Creamy Layer.”The court found that it was evident from the governing law that Gross Annual Income was the factor to be assessed for persons employed in the private sector. Since one petitioner’s father earned ₹1.12 crore annually and owned two flats, five cents of land, one Audi and a Honda City, and the other petitioner’s father was employed in a multinational bank in the UK, earning close to ₹33 lakh annually, they would fall under the Creamy Layer category, and hence were not entitled to the benefit of the Non-Creamy Layer Certificate. Published - July 30, 2026 10:07 am IST