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Union of India v. G. Kiran & Ors.

with connected appeal Antony S Mariyappa v. G. Kiran & Ors. · 2026 INSC 15Decided 6 Jan 2026
with connected appeal Antony S Mariyappa v. G. Kiran & Ors.
Justice J.K. Maheshwari · Justice Vijay Bishnoi

Background

An SC-category candidate cleared the 2013 IFS Preliminary exam only via a relaxed cut-off, then went on to rank higher than a General-category candidate in the final merit list. When only one "General" vacancy was open in Karnataka, the government gave it to the General candidate and sent the SC candidate to Tamil Nadu instead: a decision the SC candidate successfully challenged before the Tribunal and High Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court reversed, holding that a reserved-category candidate can only be treated as "General Standard" for vacancy purposes if he cleared every single stage, including the Preliminary screening, without any relaxation. Since the candidate needed the SC relaxation just to reach the Main exam, his later high ranking didn't erase that earlier relaxation.

Lesson Learnt

Availing a reserved-category relaxation at any stage of a multi-stage exam, even an early screening round, can permanently affect classification for benefits like posting/cadre allocation, regardless of later performance.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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