Public Service Examinations – Reservation – Candidates belonging to any of the vertical reservation categories would be entitled to be selected in the ‘open category’ and if such candidates belonging to reservation categories are entitled to be selected on the basis of their own merit, their selection cannot be counted against the quota reserved for the categories of vertical reservation that they belong to – Reservations, both vertical and horizontal, are methods of ensuring representation in public services and these are not to be seen as rigid ‘slots’, where a candidate’s merit, which otherwise entitles him to be shown in the open general category, is foreclosed- ‘Open category’ is open to all and the only condition for a candidate to be shown in it is merit, regardless of whether reservation benefit of either type was available to him or her- Referred to Saurav Yadav v. State of U.P. (2021) 4 SCC 542. (Para 31)