UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — SC reserves orders on Centre’s plea to finalise OBC creamy layer policy

Q1. Litigation before the Supreme Court of India on behalf of all Ministries and Departments of the Central Government — including applications such as the one seeking prospective operation of a judgment — is conducted by which one of the following?

  • A. The Central Agency Section of the Department of Legal Affairs
  • B. The Legislative Department of the Ministry of Law and Justice
  • C. The Department of Justice under the Ministry of Law and Justice
  • D. The Law Commission of India, constituted by government resolution

Q2. Which of the following are correctly identified as Law Officers of the Government of India with whose appointment the Department of Legal Affairs is concerned? 1. Attorney General of India 2. Solicitor General of India 3. Additional Solicitors General of India 4. Advocate General of a State Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. Attorney General of India
  2. Solicitor General of India
  3. Additional Solicitors General of India
  4. Advocate General of a State
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 3 and 4
  • D. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Q3. Following the Supreme Court's 1992 ruling requiring exclusion of the creamy layer, the Office Memorandum of 8 September 1993 enumerating the categories of persons so excluded — a memorandum still followed for this purpose — was issued by which one of the following?

  • A. Department of Personnel and Training
  • B. Department of Social Justice and Empowerment
  • C. National Commission for Backward Classes
  • D. Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Law and Justice

Q4. Which of the following are correctly identified as holdings of the Supreme Court in Indra Sawhney v. Union of India? 1. It upheld 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes in civil posts and services under the Union of India, subject to exclusion of the creamy layer. 2. It was delivered by a majority judgment on 16 August 1992. 3. It fixed a ceiling of 50% on total reservation, a limit the Union has since argued may be exceeded only where quantifiable data supports it. 4. It upheld 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes in admissions to all private unaided educational institutions. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. It upheld 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes in civil posts and services under the Union of India, subject to exclusion of the creamy layer.
  2. It was delivered by a majority judgment on 16 August 1992.
  3. It fixed a ceiling of 50% on total reservation, a limit the Union has since argued may be exceeded only where quantifiable data supports it.
  4. It upheld 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes in admissions to all private unaided educational institutions.
  • A. 1 and 3 only
  • B. 2 and 4
  • C. 1, 2 and 3
  • D. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Q5. Consider the following statements about the OBC creamy layer income and wealth criteria as they have evolved since 1993: 1. The ceiling on gross annual income was raised from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh in 2013, and has not been revised thereafter. 2. The 1993 Office Memorandum itself provided that the income criterion would be reviewed and modified every three years. 3. Under the wealth limb of the test, possession of wealth above the exemption limit prescribed in the Wealth Tax Act attracts creamy layer status only where it is held for three consecutive years. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The ceiling on gross annual income was raised from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh in 2013, and has not been revised thereafter.
  2. The 1993 Office Memorandum itself provided that the income criterion would be reviewed and modified every three years.
  3. Under the wealth limb of the test, possession of wealth above the exemption limit prescribed in the Wealth Tax Act attracts creamy layer status only where it is held for three consecutive years.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q6. Which one of the following was the first upward revision of the OBC creamy layer annual income ceiling after the criterion was originally prescribed in 1993?

  • A. Rs 2.5 lakh per annum, with effect from 2004
  • B. Rs 4.5 lakh per annum, with effect from 2008
  • C. Rs 6 lakh per annum, with effect from 2013
  • D. Rs 8 lakh per annum, with effect from 2017

Q7. In the Union government's application in Union of India v. Rohith Nathan, the relief of 'prospective operation' of the judgment of 11 March 2026, if granted, would mean which one of the following?

  • A. The directions would govern only non-creamy layer determinations made after the date of the judgment, leaving concluded appointments undisturbed
  • B. The directions would apply to pending as well as concluded cases, subject to a two-year window for reviewing past determinations
  • C. The directions would remain suspended until Parliament enacts a law on creamy layer determination, and take effect only thereafter
  • D. The directions would bind only the parties before the Court and no other authority, unless the Court later extends them

Q8. How many years did the Union government seek as 'reasonable time' to establish equivalence of posts, consult stakeholders and frame a uniform mechanism for creamy layer determination?

  • A. One year
  • B. Two years
  • C. Three years
  • D. Five years

Q9. Which one of the following correctly describes Article 342A, inserted by the Constitution (One Hundred and Second Amendment) Act, 2018?

  • A. It empowers the President to specify, in relation to each State and Union Territory, the socially and educationally backward classes
  • B. It empowers Parliament to constitute a Commission to investigate the conditions of backward classes and report to the President
  • C. It supplies the definition of the expression 'socially and educationally backward classes' for the purposes of the Constitution
  • D. It provides for a Commission for Backward Classes to inquire into complaints regarding the working of safeguards

Q10. Which of the following are correctly matched? 1. Article 338B — National Commission for Backward Classes, inserted by the Constitution (One Hundred and Fifth Amendment) Act, 2021 2. Article 15(4) — special provision for the advancement of socially and educationally backward classes and of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes 3. Article 340 — appointment of a Commission to investigate the conditions of backward classes, under which the Commission on sub-categorisation of OBCs was constituted in 2017 4. Article 16(4A) — reservation in matters of promotion in favour of socially and educationally backward classes Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. Article 338B — National Commission for Backward Classes, inserted by the Constitution (One Hundred and Fifth Amendment) Act, 2021
  2. Article 15(4) — special provision for the advancement of socially and educationally backward classes and of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
  3. Article 340 — appointment of a Commission to investigate the conditions of backward classes, under which the Commission on sub-categorisation of OBCs was constituted in 2017
  4. Article 16(4A) — reservation in matters of promotion in favour of socially and educationally backward classes
  • A. 1 and 4
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1, 2 and 3
  • D. 2, 3 and 4

Q11. Consider the following statements about how creamy layer status is applied to employees of Central public sector undertakings, public sector banks and insurance corporations, as compared with Government servants: 1. All executive level posts in Central public sector undertakings, including board level and managerial level posts, are treated as equivalent to Group 'A' posts in Government. 2. For clerks and peons in public sector banks, financial institutions and public sector insurance corporations, the income test as revised from time to time applies, instead of automatic creamy layer status. 3. Officers of Junior Management Grade Scale-I and above in public sector banks are necessarily placed outside the creamy layer, since bank cadres have no equivalent whatsoever in Government service. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. All executive level posts in Central public sector undertakings, including board level and managerial level posts, are treated as equivalent to Group 'A' posts in Government.
  2. For clerks and peons in public sector banks, financial institutions and public sector insurance corporations, the income test as revised from time to time applies, instead of automatic creamy layer status.
  3. Officers of Junior Management Grade Scale-I and above in public sector banks are necessarily placed outside the creamy layer, since bank cadres have no equivalent whatsoever in Government service.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q12. Which of the following are correctly identified in relation to Supreme Court decisions on reservation? 1. A seven-judge Bench held by a 6:1 majority in 2024 that States are competent to sub-classify the Scheduled Castes, overturning the 2004 ruling in E.V. Chinnaiah. 2. The same 2024 decision upheld the Punjab Scheduled Caste and Backward Classes (Reservation in Services) Act, 2006. 3. In Janhit Abhiyan, a five-judge Bench upheld the Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act by a 3:2 majority. 4. In Jarnail Singh, the Court held that the creamy layer principle cannot be extended to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. A seven-judge Bench held by a 6:1 majority in 2024 that States are competent to sub-classify the Scheduled Castes, overturning the 2004 ruling in E.V. Chinnaiah.
  2. The same 2024 decision upheld the Punjab Scheduled Caste and Backward Classes (Reservation in Services) Act, 2006.
  3. In Janhit Abhiyan, a five-judge Bench upheld the Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act by a 3:2 majority.
  4. In Jarnail Singh, the Court held that the creamy layer principle cannot be extended to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 1, 2 and 3
  • C. 3 and 4
  • D. 1, 2, 3 and 4