Salary Income Should Not Be Clubbed for OBC Reservation Eligibility: Madras HC Directs Fresh Consideration of OBC-NCL Certificate, Cites Supreme Court Ruling [Read Order]

In a recent ruling, the High Court set aside an order passed by the Tahsildar, Vilavancode Taluk, which had rejected a petitioner's application for an Other Backward Class-Non-Creamy Layer (OBC-NCL) certificate stating that salary income should not be clubbed for OBC reservation eligibility.

The writ petition was filed by Jenesh Sathees Mathew challenging the rejection order dated 27.05.2026. The petitioner had previously been issued an OBC certificate for the year 2024-2025. However, his fresh application was rejected by the third respondent on the ground that his father's salary exceeded the prescribed income limit.

The counsel for the petitioner, A. Saranavan, submitted that the rejection was erroneous as it failed to consider the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in Civil Appeal Nos. 2827-2829 of 2018, dated 11.03.2026. Reliance was placed on the Supreme Court's observation that under Category VI of the exclusion criteria, income from salaries and income from agricultural land are consciously excluded from the computation of gross annual income. The judgment clarifies that the Income/Wealth Test acts as a residual filter, and salary income is not to be clubbed with income from other sources.

Conversely, the Government Advocate, M.S. Parthiban, filed a status report arguing that the petitioner had not annexed his father's income certificate with the application. He submitted that the father’s income was above Rs. 87 Lakhs, rendering the petitioner ineligible for the certificate.

The Division Bench, comprising Justice N. Sathish Kumar and Justice M. Jothiraman, examined the submissions and noted a procedural deficiency. The Court observed that the status report indicated the absence of a proper income certificate and supporting documents, which led the authorities to conclude that the income exceeded the limit without proper verification.

Justice N. Sathish Kumar observed that the petitioner must be given an opportunity to rectify the deficiency and present the correct facts. The Court permitted the petitioner to submit a fresh application along with the income certificate, income tax particulars, and a copy of the Supreme Court judgment by the next day, 09.06.2026.

Directing a speedy resolution, the Court ordered the third respondent to consider the fresh application on its own merits, strictly adhering to the Supreme Court’s guidelines regarding the exclusion of salary income. The authority was directed to pass appropriate orders on or before 10.06.2026.

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