Supreme Court Ruling on Reserved Category Candidates in IFS Exam

Supreme Court's Decision on Reserved Category Candidates

The Supreme Court has ruled that candidates from reserved categories who benefit from concessions in preliminary exams cannot be considered as selected under 'general standards' for cadre allocation, even if they achieve a higher rank than general category candidates in the final merit list.

A bench comprising Justices JK Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi overturned similar conclusions made by the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) and the Karnataka High Court, which had upheld a notification from the central government allocating the Karnataka cadre to a general category candidate, despite a more qualified Scheduled Caste (SC) candidate passing based on relaxed standards in the preliminary exam.

Supreme Court Denies Appointment in Unreserved Cadre

The Supreme Court also declined to consider the appointment of SC candidates in the unreserved (general) cadre of the Indian Forest Service (IFS), as the candidate had availed of concessions during the preliminary examination. The court stated that once a reserved category candidate takes advantage of such concessions, they cannot be deemed eligible for unreserved vacancies. This ruling came in response to an appeal from the central government challenging the Karnataka High Court's decision, which had allowed the SC candidate's appointment in the unreserved category solely based on their higher final rank compared to a general category candidate.

Background of the 2013 IFS Examination Case

This case stems from the 2013 IFS examination. The cutoff for the preliminary exam was set at 267 marks for the general category, while it was 233 marks for SC candidates. The SC candidate scored 247.15 marks, qualifying based on the relaxed cutoff, whereas the general category candidate passed with 270.68 marks, meeting the standard cutoff.