Dear Oppressed Oppressor , The open category remains open to everyone on General Standards . You need to get educated about Reservation more else you will feel suppressed always and won't be ever feel free of suppression. You need to get a clearer idea of how reservation actually works, otherwise you’ll keep feeling suppressed no matter what the rules say. Unreserved (open) seats are not reserved for upper castes. That part is correct. Anyone who meets the general cut-off can compete for them. But the moment you use a reservation benefit at any stage >> Age relaxation, extra attempts, fee concession, or relaxed qualifying marks >> you are no longer in the pure open category competition. Courts have repeatedly said that if the rules or the notification put an embargo on it, a candidate who has taken such relaxations cannot later claim an unreserved seat even if their marks are higher. You can’t take the concession and then also claim the seat meant for people who cleared without any concession. That is the distinction. So It does not remain open to people who have already used category-specific relaxations to get through earlier stages. Whenever you take benefits of Reservation at any stage i.e. in this case AGE RELAXATION , You can't be considered in Open Category .