LANDMARK CASE

Indra Sawhney v. Union of India

1992 Supp (3) SCC 217 · Supreme Court of India · Constitutional law

At a glance

Citation: 1992 Supp (3) SCC 217
Court: Supreme Court of India
Area of law: Constitutional law
In one line: Reservation for OBCs was upheld, with the creamy layer excluded and total reservations generally capped at 50 percent. No reservation in promotions under Article 16(4).

1 Facts

Petitions challenged the government's implementation of the Mandal Commission report reserving 27 percent of central jobs for backward classes.

2 Issue

Are reservations for backward classes valid, and what limits apply?

3 What the court decided

Reservation for OBCs was upheld, with the creamy layer excluded and total reservations generally capped at 50 percent. No reservation in promotions under Article 16(4).

4 Why it matters

It is the leading case on reservations and the 50 percent ceiling.

5 Think about it

Why did the Court exclude the creamy layer? What purpose does that serve?

6 Analyse it yourself

Read the full judgment from an official source or a law database, then brief it in seven steps: facts, issues, arguments, decision, ratio, obiter and significance. Always check the citation before you rely on it.

7 More cases on Constitutional law

A.K. Gopalan v. State of Madras AIR 1950 SC 27
ADM Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shukla (1976) 2 SCC 521
Air India v. Nergesh Meerza (1981) 4 SCC 335
Ajay Hasia v. Khalid Mujib Sehravardi (1981) 1 SCC 722
Anuj Garg v. Hotel Association of India (2008) 3 SCC 1
Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India (2020) 3 SCC 637

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