Quota judgment binding on Govt: Mukherjee

Pranab Mukherjee says that the SC order excluding the 'creamy layer' form the 27 percent quota for the OBCs in higher educational institutions was binding on the government.

The Supreme Court order excluding the 'creamy layer' from the 27 percent quota for the other backward classes (OBC) in higher educational institutions was binding on the government, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Friday.

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"We will try to implement whatever the court has suggested," he said on the sidelines of the inaugural session of the Indo-Arab Investment project conclave in New delhi.

"Opportunities will be open to all sections of OBC students, including those of the creamy layer. But the Supreme Court order excluding the creamy layer from 27 percent quota is binding on the government," he said.

Some partners of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) have urged the government to redefine the 'creamy layer' denoting the elite among the OBCs.

But at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political affairs (CCPA) Thursday, the government decided to go ahead with the implementation of the court order in its present form, including the exclusion of the creamy layer.