Open category as an open competitive arena rather than a reserved quota

The open or unreserved category in public recruitment does not constitute a reserved quota or an inviolate sanctuary reserved exclusively for candidates who do not belong to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, or Other Backward Classes. Terms like open, unreserved, or general employed in employment advertisements denote vacant posts on which any candidate can legitimately be appointed purely on the strength of their relative merit, irrespective of their social origins. Limiting unreserved vacancies only to candidates outside the reserved categories would subvert the core constitutional architecture of equality, as it would effectively transform an open competition into a de facto vertical reservation for forward classes. The only benchmark for securing a place in the open category list is comparative merit, and no public authority can restrict the entry of disadvantaged candidates who compete openly and outperform their general category peers. (Airport Authority of India & Ors. Vs Sham Krishna B & Ors. | 2026 INSC 69)