‘Capable of misuse’: Supreme Court stays UGC equity rules

The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the operation of the 2026 University Grants Commission’s Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions Regulations, observing that their provisions were “prima facie vague and capable of misuse”, Live Law reported.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi asked the Union government to redraft the regulations. Until then, their operation will remain in abeyance, the legal news outlet reported.

The bench verbally raised concern about the regulations, questioning why “caste-based discrimination” had been separately defined when the definition of “discrimination” already covered all forms of discriminatory treatment. It also asked why incidents of ragging had been excluded from the ambit of the new rules, Live Law reported.

The 2026 University Grants Commission Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions Regulations were notified on January 13. The regulations have led to protests by upper-caste students, who have argued that the framework could lead to discrimination against them.

The protesters have contended that the rules are biased against students from the general category as they do not provide for measures against “false complaints”.

Three writ petitions had been filed in the Supreme Court challenging Section 3(c) of the regulations, which defines caste-based discrimination as discrimination against members of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, Live Law reported.

One of the petitioners, advocate Vineet Jindal, had contended that the provision renders protection against caste discrimination non-inclusionary. He had argued that the provision, in its current “exclusionary form”, denies grievance redressal mechanisms and institutional protection to individuals who do not belong to the three categories.

What the rules mandate

The University Grants Commission’s new equity rules require institutes to set up special committees, helplines and monitoring teams to address complaints, particularly from members of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.

The UGC had in 2012 first released equity rules for higher education institutes, which required them to set up Equal Opportunity Cells and Anti-Discrimination Officers. However, those rules did not provide for action against institutions that did not comply with them.

In contrast, the 2026 rules require the UGC to set up a monitoring committee to oversee their implementation.

Institutes that do not comply with the regulations can be barred from participating in the commission’s schemes, offering degree programmes and online courses, and can be removed from the list of institutes eligible to receive central grants.