UPSC Reservation Rules 2026 – Supreme Court Judgment on Migration, Cut-Offs, Category Benefits

UPSC Reservation Rules: In a landmark clarification affecting thousands of aspirants, the Supreme Court of India has laid down a decisive interpretation of reservation norms in the Union Public Service Commission Civil Services Examination (CSE).

The ruling settles the long-debated “migration” issue, where candidates availed reservation benefits at one stage but secured unreserved seats in the final list. Understanding these updated norms is crucial for all UPSC aspirants, ensuring clarity on the path to final selection.

Supreme Court Ruling on UPSC Reservation Norms: No Dual Status

The Supreme Court has provided a significant clarification regarding the reservation norms for UPSC examinations. The core principle of this ruling is explicit:

If a candidate has availed the benefit of reservation at any stage of the examination process, they cannot compete for a seat in the Unreserved category in the final merit list.

This means:

• A candidate must remain either reserved or unreserved throughout the entire examination cycle.
• Migration from reserved to unreserved after availing benefits is no longer permissible.

This implies that such a candidate must secure their final selection exclusively within their own reserved category’s quota.

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UPSC Reservation Structure: Category-Wise Seat Distribution

The UPSC Civil Services Examination incorporates reservation benefits for specific categories. The current distribution of reserved seats is as follows:

• Scheduled Tribes (ST): 7.5%
• Scheduled Castes (SC): 15%
• Other Backward Classes (OBC): 27%
• Economically Weaker Section (EWS): 10%

• The combined reservation for SC, ST, and OBC totals 49.5%. With the inclusion of the EWS quota, the overall reservation reaches 59.5%, which exceeds the 50% cap established by the Indra Sawhney judgment.

• Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan): 4% (This constitutes a horizontal reservation, distributed across four sub-categories of disability).

Approximately 60-64% of the total seats are reserved, leaving the remaining seats as Unreserved. It is essential to recognize that “General” category seats are not reserved for any specific community; rather, they are unreserved, meaning any candidate, including those from SC, ST, OBC, or EWS categories, can compete for them by scoring above the unreserved cut-off.

The ‘Migration’ of Candidates: Old System vs. New UPSC Reservation Rules

The Supreme Court’s recent ruling directly addresses the practice where candidates “migrated” from a reserved category to an unreserved category during the selection process.

Previous System

1. Scenario: Consider candidate ‘A’ from the SC category taking the Prelims exam.

• Unreserved (General) Cut-off: 98

• SC Category Cut-off: 92

• Candidate A’s Score: 95

2. Qualification: Candidate A, failing to meet the unreserved cut-off, qualified for the Mains exam by using the lower SC category cut-off. In this instance, they availed a reservation benefit.
3. Final Merit: The candidate then performed exceptionally well in the Mains and Interview stages, achieving a final aggregate score higher than the unreserved category’s final cut-off.
4. “Migration”: Under the prior system, this candidate was permitted to “migrate” and occupy a seat from the unreserved pool. This action would then free up one SC category seat for another SC candidate.
5. The Issue: The dissatisfaction stemmed not from reserved category candidates occupying unreserved seats, but from them doing so after using a reservation benefit (such as a lower cut-off) to clear an earlier examination stage (e.g., Prelims), which they would otherwise not have passed.

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The Concept of “Realized Reservation”

This “migration” practice often led to what was termed “realized reservation,” where the effective representation of reserved categories in the final selection list frequently surpassed their allocated quota, as some of their meritorious candidates secured unreserved seats.

The Supreme Court’s Clarification

The new ruling establishes a clear and consistent principle: a candidate is either considered reserved or unreserved throughout the entire examination cycle. It prohibits using a reservation benefit at an initial stage and then being reclassified as unreserved at the final stage.

If a benefit is availed at any point, the candidate must compete for a seat within their specifically reserved category’s quota for the final selection.

Supreme Court’s Clarification on “Reservation Benefits”

The Supreme Court ruling explicitly applies if a candidate has availed any of the following reservation benefits at any point in the examination process:

1. Lower Cut-off: Clearing any stage of the exam (e.g., Prelims) by securing a score lower than the cut-off for the unreserved category.
2. Age Relaxation: Utilizing the extended age limit provided to candidates from reserved categories.
3. Increased Attempts: Using more examination attempts than those permitted for unreserved category candidates.
4. Fee Concession: Paying a reduced examination fee designated for reserved categories.

If a candidate avails any of these relaxations, they are deemed to have taken a reservation benefit and are consequently ineligible to compete for an unreserved seat in the final merit list.

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Age & Attempt Relaxation

Constitutional Context: Equality vs. Affirmative Action

This issue intersects with:

• Article 14 – Equality before Law
• Article 15(4) – Special provisions for backward classes
• Article 16(4) – Reservation in public employment

The judgment reinforces procedural fairness while maintaining constitutional reservation safeguards.

For UPSC Mains, this can be linked to:

• Social justice
• Merit vs. reservation debate
• Administrative reforms
• Constitutional morality

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