In its judgment permitting the sub-classification of Scheduled Castes, the Supreme Court emphasized the necessity of excluding the 'creamy layer' within the Scheduled Castes from the reservation benefits designated for SC categories.

Currently, the concept of the 'creamy layer' is applied solely to reservations for Other Backward Classes. The judgment was issued by a bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, with Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath, Bela Trivedi, Manoj Misra, and Satish Chandra Sharma.

While six judges supported the sub-classification, Justice Trivedi expressed a dissenting opinion.

Four of the six judges who supported sub-classification specifically stated in their judgments that the exclusion of the creamy layer should be applied to Scheduled Castes as well.

Justice BR Gavai, in his judgment, said, "State must evolve a policy to identify creamy layer among the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes category and exclude them from fold of affirmative action. In my view, this is the only way to achieve real equality as enshrined in the Constitution."

Justice Gavai remarked that children of Scheduled Caste individuals who have benefited from reservations should not be considered on the same level as children of those who have not availed themselves of such benefits. He suggested that the criteria for identifying the creamy layer among SCs and STs should differ from those applied to Other Backward Classes.

Justice Vikram Nath supported Justice Gavai's position, asserting that the creamy layer principle applicable to Other Backward Classes should also extend to Scheduled Castes. Justice Pankaj Mithal argued that reservations should be limited to the first generation, suggesting that if a member of the first generation attains a higher status through reservations, subsequent generations should not be entitled to such benefits. Justice Satish Chandra Sharma concurred with Justice Gavai, indicating that identifying the creamy layer among SCs and STs should become a constitutional imperative for the State.

In 2018, a 5-judge bench of the Supreme Court in the case of *Jarnail Singh v. Lacchmi Narain Gupta* had noted that the creamy layer exclusion could be applied to SCs and STs in the context of reservation in promotions.