Supreme Court clarifies Merit-Based Allocation for Reserved Category Candidates

Exam-focused facts from the 17 January 2026 current affairs briefing.

Key facts

The Supreme Court ruled that reserved category candidates who score above the general category cutoff must be adjusted against unreserved seats.
The Court stated that the 'unreserved' category is an open pool based strictly on merit, not a quota for general candidates.
The judgment emphasized that such merit-based adjustment is required under Article 14 and Article 16 of the Constitution.