New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that whether a candidate falls in the creamy layer or non-creamy layer of OBC cannot be decided on the basis of income alone.“Determining the status of creamy layer merely on the basis of income group, without reference to the categories of posts and position parameters, is clearly unsustainable in law,” the top court said.The term “creamy layer” refers to relatively wealthy and socially advanced members of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) who are excluded from reservation benefits in government jobs and educational institutions. This concept was introduced after Indra Sawhney vs. Union of India, in which the Supreme Court upheld OBC reservation but ordered the exclusion of the better-off classes.The government later made rules in 1993 to identify such groups. Currently, OBC families earning more than Rs 8 lakh annually are generally classified as part of the creamy layer and become ineligible for reservation benefits. The aim of the rule is to ensure that the quota primarily helps poorer and more deprived OBC communities.This category may also include children of people holding high constitutional posts, senior government positions, high ranking armed forces roles or people with significant property and business income. The income limit was last revised in 2017 from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh.