Two-tier examination structure and integral nature of preliminary screening

The Indian Forest Service Examination is established under statutory rules as a structured two-tier selection mechanism comprising a preliminary screening test followed by the main examination and personality interview. Although marks obtained in the preliminary examination are not computed to determine final merit rankings, the preliminary test constitutes an essential and non-severable stage of the total selection scheme. Candidates who fail to secure the requisite threshold marks at the initial screening stage are automatically excluded from progressing to subsequent evaluation phases. Consequently, qualifying the preliminary examination operates as an indispensable precedent condition for entering the main competitive tier. Relaxations extended at this initial threshold cannot be decoupled from the total selection sequence. (Union of India v. G. Kiran & Ors. | 2026 INSC 15)