‘Vague and dangerous’: Supreme Court stays UGC equity regulations, warns of social divide
Anu Parthiban | January 29, 2026 | 03:31 PM IST | 1 min read
The Supreme Court says non-intervention in UGC Equity Regulations could have dangerous impact and divide society.
Amid protests demanding a rollback of the UGC equity regulations for excluding general and non-reserved categories from protection against caste-based discrimination, the Supreme Court today stayed the rules, observing that they are "vague" and "capable of misuse".
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi observed that if it does not intervene in the matter, it will lead to a “dangerous impact and divide the society”.
The top court order comes after various pleas were filed contending that the University Grants Commission (UGC) adopted a “non-inclusionary” definition of caste-based discrimination and excluded general and non-reserved categories from institutional protection.
"Issue notice, returnable on March 19. Solicitor General accepts notice.... Meanwhile, let UGC Regulations 2026 shall remain in abeyance and 2012 regulations shall continue," the bench said.
Why the UGC regulation is facing opposition
The University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026 , notified on January 13, mandated all higher educational institutions to form “equity committees" to look into discrimination complaints.
These committees must include members of the Other Backward Classes (OBC), the Scheduled Castes (SC), the Scheduled Tribes (ST), persons with disabilities, and women, the rules state.
The new regulation replaces the UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2012, which was largely advisory in nature. Pleas were filed against the new regulations as it limits the scope of caste discrimination to SC, ST, and OBC.
Protesting students, teachers, and political leaders, said this means the UGC has effectively denied institutional protection and grievance redressal to individuals belonging to the "general" or non-reserved categories who may also face harassment or bias based on their caste identity.
The top court was hearing pleas challenging the constitutional validity of UGC Equity Regulations 2026 filed by Mritunjay Tiwari, advocate Vineet Jindal and Rahul Dewan.
Follow us for the latest education news on colleges and universities, admission, courses, exams, research, education policies, study abroad and more..
To get in touch, write to us at news@careers360.com.
Next Story
]Featured News
]- Mofussil to Markets: SNDT Women’s University is taking fashion design boom to the Maharashtra hinterlands
- Promised, but missing: Five years on, National Digital University reduced to a budget item, with no funds
- Amravati University drops Marathi novel on Covid lockdown from syllabus; ‘targeting literature,’ says author
- JNU, TISS Mumbai, BHU: Student unions vanish from universities with elections scrapped, councils taking over
- Students in University of Aberdeen, Mumbai, get credential exactly the same they’d get in Scotland: COO
- ‘IIMC to upgrade all journalism and mass communication courses to MA degrees, phase out PG diplomas’: VC
- Rebuilding Calcutta University: VC Ashutosh Ghosh’s priorities are recruitment, fixing finances, reforms
- PARAKH’s Foundational Learning Study 2026 to cover 1 lakh Class 3 students across 10,000 schools
- Telangana: Government Degree College Vikarabad moves out of school and into DIET campus
- ‘Shouldn’t open universities like shops’: Odisha higher education expands but students rue plummeting quality