Supreme Court agrees to list for hearing plea against UGC regulation

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to list for hearing a plea challenging a recently notified University Grants Commission (UGC) regulation on the ground that it has adopted a non-inclusionary definition of caste-based discrimination and excludes certain categories from institutional protection.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi took note of the submissions of a lawyer seeking urgent hearing of the plea.

"There is a possibility of discrimination against the general class. My case is 'Rahul Dewan and Ors vs Union'," a lawyer said.

"We know what is happening. Make sure defects are cured. We will list it," the CJI said.

The new regulations mandating all higher education institutions to form "equity committees" to look into discrimination complaints and promote equity were notified on January 13.

The University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026, mandated that 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 new regulations replace the UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2012, which was largely advisory in nature.

The plea assailed the regulation on the grounds that caste-based discrimination is defined strictly as discrimination against members of the SCs, STs and OBCs.

It said that by limiting the scope of "caste-based discrimination" only to SC, ST and OBC categories, 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.

Protests are held at various places against the regulations, with student groups and organisations demanding its immediate rollback.