After petitioning SC on Aug 25 raising questions about the judgement, govt has now asked CAT to modify its Aug 19 order

NEW DELHI: Centre has begun to disentangle itself from the seemingly contradictory positions it has taken before Supreme Court and Central Administrative Tribunal on the implementation of the March 11 Rohit Nathan judgement on creamy layer for OBCs from PSU family background.Rohit Nathan judgement paved way for the induction of those OBC candidates in the elite civil services who passed exams over past 10 years but were still left out. The judgement laid down that “salary” cannot be added to “income” to decide if a candidate from PSU background falls in “creamy layer” – like it is done for OBCs from non-PSU families.After petitioning SC on Aug 25 raising questions about the judgement, govt has now asked CAT to modify its Aug 19 order where Centre had committed to implement the Nathan judgement.In an affidavit filed in CAT Monday, govt said its earlier submission “that a decision has been taken to implement the judgement in Rohit Nathan requires to be suitably clarified” because a modification application is pending before SC. Govt said the judgement’s implementation would depend on the outcome of pending application in SC.

Govt has told CAT that if its earlier order stays on record in its unqualified form, “it is likely to create an inconsistent position” suggesting govt has undertaken to implement the judgement that it has assailed before SC.TOI had reported how Centre has taken a contradictory stand before SC and CAT in the wake of OBC candidate Basant Singh pushing the tribunal to enforce its order that he be inducted in civil services. Singh’s case is similar to the candidates in whose favour SC delivered the Nathan judgement. Quoting the fresh affidavit, Vikram Hegde, lawyer for Singh, said, ” Govt is seeking to set the clock back.”As per the 1993 office memorandum, “salary” and “agricultural income” are not included in computing “income” of a family. The case pertains to how DoPT has been taking “salary” into consideration for candidates with parents in PSUs.