The Supreme Court on Thursday, Nov 5, heard petitions challenging the University Grants Commission (UGC) (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026, following objections from general-category groups who have argued that certain provisions of the regulations are discriminatory towards them.
The petitioners have raised concerns that the regulations' mechanism for addressing caste-based discrimination specifically identifies students belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC), while allegedly failing to provide equivalent protection to general-category students.
Supreme Court asks Centre to reconsider the regulations
A bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, along with Justice Joymalya Bagchi, heard the petitions and stressed that the interests of every student must be protected.
During the hearing, the court suggested that the government reconsider the regulations and establish a committee to address the concerns raised.
Responding to the court, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that the government was already examining the matter and was contemplating appointing a committee to ensure that no section of the student community feels excluded, threatened or apprehensive.
The court subsequently adjourned the matter for four weeks.
Controversy surrounding the UGC 2026 regulations
The UGC regulations were introduced to address caste-based discrimination in higher education institutions and require universities and colleges to establish mechanisms, including equity committees and helplines, to address discrimination complaints.
The provisions triggered protests and legal challenges from upper-caste groups, who argued that the framework was exclusionary and did not adequately address complaints of discrimination involving students outside the specified categories.
Following multiple petitions challenging their constitutional validity, the Supreme Court on Jan 29, 2026, stayed the implementation of the 2026 regulations, observing that certain provisions were vague and could potentially be misused.
The court directed that the earlier 2012 UGC equity regulations would remain in force until further orders.
Caste-based discrimination is a serious issue in our institutions and should be addressed. often marginalised caste group students fasce discriminations form their peers and teachers, leading to many alleged dropouts and suicides as they feel unwelcome in the institutions supposed to be teaching them. This hate is fuelled by online meme culture and the general category's disdain for reservations that are meant to uplift people from lower-caste backgrounds.
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