Reminding the government of its duty to provide special care to reserved category students in higher educational institutions, the Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered IIT-Delhi to reconsider the expulsion of SC/ST students on account of poor performance.

A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices P Sathasivam and B S Chauhan said the creamy layer principle would not apply to Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates. The court said these students deserve additional coaching facilities to help them successfully complete their courses at IITs and IIMs.

“It is not in dispute that SCs and STs are a separate class by themselves and the creamy layer principle is not applicable to them,” the Bench observed. Justice Sathasivam, who wrote the verdict, observed, “These socially and economically backward categories are to be taken care of at every stage even in specialised institutions like IITs.”

The remarks came while the apex court was delivering the verdict in a batch of appeals filed by six reserved category students, including one Avinash Singh Bagri. The students had challenged IIT-Delhi’s decision to expel them for poor performance.