A Bench of Justices PS Narasimha and R Mahadevan made the observation while dismissing a batch of appeals filed by the Union government.
The government had challenged the rulings of the Madras, Delhi and Kerala High Courts in favour of civil services candidates who had earlier been denied OBC status on the ground that they belong to the creamy layer of the community.
After examining a 1993 Office Memorandum and a 2004 clarificatory letter, the top court said that income from salaries alone cannot be the sole criterion to decide whether a candidate falls within the creamy layer.
The status as well as the category of post to which a candidate’s parent or parents belong is essential,…