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2026 Supreme(Online)(CAT) 332
CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL
Ranjit More, Chairman, Anand S. Khati, Member (A)
Pranay Kumar Singh – Appellant
Versus
Union of India – Respondent
O.A. No. 3411/2023
For the Appellants/Petitioners: Mr. Ankur Chhibber with Mr. Nikunj Arora
For the Respondents: Mr. A.K. Singh for R-1, Ms. Jyoti for Mr. R.V. Sinha for R-2
Child of Group ‘C’ employee directly recruited to Group ‘A’ after age 40 qualifies as OBC (NCL); age threshold ensures no creamy layer exclusion as formative benefits absent.
Headnote:(A) Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 - Section 19 - DoP&T O.M. dated 08.09.1993 read with clarification dated 14.10.2004 - Civil Services Examination - OBC reservation - Creamy layer exclusion - Candidate belonging to notified OBC community qualified under OBC (NCL) category with rank 602 - Father initially appointed as Group ‘C’ employee at age 27, directly recruited to Group ‘A’ post at age 42 - Held, entry into Group ‘A’ after age 40 from Group ‘C’ entitles candidate to OBC (NCL) benefits as per clarification para 7 to clause 4(v) - Age threshold of 40 years reflects policy that formative educational period complete by then; candidate did not enjoy socio-economic advantages of Group ‘A’ officer’s child - Category II
(B) of Schedule treated as specific category over general Category II(A); direct recruitment after 40 years not covered under creamy layer exclusion - Precedents applying generalis specialibus non derogant principle followed. (Paras 7, 11.1 to 11.7, 12)
(B) Reservation - Creamy layer criteria - Exclusion based on parent’s service status must be purposive; sons/daughters of parents entering Group ‘A’ from Group ‘C’/‘D’ at/after age 40 not creamy layer even on direct recruitment - Rationale: no privilege during child’s impressionable years. (Paras 11.2, 11.3)
Facts of the case:
Candidate qualified Civil Services Examination under OBC (NCL) category but denied service allocation treating as creamy layer solely because father directly recruited to Group ‘A’ post, ignoring prior Group ‘C’ service and age at entry (over 42 years). DoP&T applied Category II(A)(b) of 08.09.1993 O.M.; candidate relied on 14.10.2004 clarification and judicial precedents.
Findings of Court:
Candidate belongs to OBC (NCL); entitled to reservation benefits. Respondents directed to allocate service per rank/preference, detail for training with consequential benefits within 8 weeks.
Issues: Whether candidate falls in creamy layer under DoP&T O.M. 08.09.1993 when father from Group ‘C’ directly recruited to Group ‘A’ post after age 40; correct interpretation of O.M. Schedule categories and 14.10.2004 clarification.
Ratio Decidendi: Harmonious reading of O.M. categories and clarification shows age 40 benchmark key; entry into Group ‘A’ post-40 years from lower group excludes from creamy layer as child lacked associated advantages during formative years - specific provision prevails over general.
Result: O.A. allowed.
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. applicant's cse-2022 participation and allocation denial as obc-ncl (Para 1 , 2) |
| 2. father's career from group c to group a post-40 qualifies ncl (Para 3) |
| 3. direct recruit group a excludes obc-ncl per 1993 om (Para 4 , 5) |
| 4. age 40 threshold rationale for creamy layer exclusion (Para 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11) |
| 5. precedents affirm ncl for post-40 group a entry (Para 12) |
| 6. applicant entitled to obc-ncl service allocation (Para 13 , 14 , 15 , 16) |
CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL PRINCIPAL BENCH O.A. No. 3411/2023 Reserved on : 17.12.2025 Pronounced on : 09.01.2026 Hon’ble Mr. Justice Ranjit More, Chairman Hon’ble Dr. Anand S. Khati, Member (A)
Pranay Kumar Singh S/o Shri Uday Kumar Singh Aged 30 Years R/o C/o D.N. Singh, Professor Colony Rahul Nagar, Sultanganj Bhagalpur, Bihar-813213.
... Applicant (By Advocate : Mr. Ankur Chhibber with Mr. Nikunj Arora)
Versus
1. Union of India Through the Secretary Department of Personnel & Training North Block, New Delhi -110002
2. The Secretary Union Public Service Commission Shahjahan Road New Delhi.
... Respondents (By Advocates: Mr. A.K. Singh for R-1 and Ms. Jyoti for Mr. R.V. Sinha for R-2)
ORDER Hon’ble Dr. Anand S, Khati, Member (A) :
By virtue of the present Original Application (O.A.) filed under Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985, the applicant, who is an aspirant of All India Civil Services and appeared as an OBC candidate in Civil Services Examination (CSE)-2022 held by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), has sought for the following relief(s):
“(i) To direct the respondent to allocate service to the applicant in Indian Revenue Service (IT) by way of treating him as O.B.C. (Non-Creamy Layer) on the basis of recommendation made by the Union Public Service Commission.
(ii) To direct the respondent to maintain the seniority of the Applicant in the IRS cadre over his juniors and to thereby detail him for training forthwith with all consequential benefits.”
2. The brief facts, as narrated by the learned counsel for the applicant are that:
2.1 Pursuant to Examination Notice No.05/2022-CSP dated 02.02.2022 for Civil Services Examination, 2022 issued by the UPSC, the applicant, who belongs to ‘Kurmi’ community from Bihar and has been accorded with an OBC certificate by the Competent Authority, applied under OBC Non-Creamy Layer (NCL) category. He appeared in the Preliminary Examination held on 05.06.2022 and scored 117.84 marks against the determined cut-off of 87.54 for OBC category and 88.22 for General category. Accordingly, he took the Mains Examination held between 16.09.2022 to 25.09.2022, and declared successful vide result dated 06.12.2022. He was called for document verification followed by a Personality Test scheduled on 10.04.2023. As per instructions, he submitted Detailed Application Form-I (DAF-I) and DAF-II.
2.2 In the final result dated 23.05.2023, the applicant was declared successful and placed at All India Rank and as per the notified vacancy positions, the said rank would have easily gained appointment with some Group ‘A’ service.
2.3 It is specifically mentioned that the name of the father of the applicant is ‘Uday Kumar Singh’, however, the same was inadvertently mentioned as U.K. Singh in the mark-sheet issued by the Schooling Board. This anomaly was pointed out by the UPSC and, accordingly, a duly sworn affidavit to the effect was required on behalf of the applicant.
2.4 As per the requirements of the Department, the applicant submitted duly sworn affidavit to the UPSC and DoP&T on 10.04.2023, 05.06.2023 and 08.06.2023, well before the last date as specified by the respective departments. Thereafter, he was in receipt of various e-mails from the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy for Administration inter alia directing him to join 98th Foundation Course, which was scheduled to start from 01.08.2023.
2.5 The applicant submitted all the documents as per the requirement of the respondents. However, in the 1st iteration list of allocation date
