SC to urgently list plea challenging new UGC equity rules

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to list for hearing a plea challenging the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026. 

When the matter was mentioned for urgent listing, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant assured the petitioner’s counsel that the case would be heard after defects in the petition are cured. 

The counsel submitted that the regulations could result in discrimination against individuals in the general category and expressed concern over the denial of effective grievance redressal mechanisms for them. 

In response, CJI Kant said that the apex court was aware of the issue. 

“We know what’s happening. Make sure defects are cured. We will list it,” the CJI said. 

The plea challenges the UGC’s Equity Regulations, alleging that the framework institutionalises discrimination by denying grievance redressal mechanisms to persons belonging to non-SC/ST/OBC categories. 

It contended that the regulations violate the principles of equality and fair access to remedies in higher education institutions. 

According to the petition, the regulation restricts the scope of “caste-based discrimination” only to members of the "Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes”. 

Such a definition “accords legal recognition of victimhood exclusively to certain reserved categories and categorically excludes persons belonging to general or upper castes from its protective ambit, regardless of the nature, gravity, or context of discrimination suffered by them”. 

The petition further seeks a direction to ensure that Equal Opportunity Centres, Equity Helplines, inquiry mechanisms and Ombudsperson proceedings under the regulations are made available in a “non-discriminatory and caste-neutral manner”, pending reconsideration or amendment of Regulation 3(c). 

It argued that denial of access to grievance redressal mechanisms on the basis of caste identity amounts to impermissible state discrimination and violates Articles 14, 15(1) and 21 of the Constitution.