A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) 2026 regulations on caste-based discrimination, arguing that the new framework unconstitutionally excludes students and faculty from non-reserved categories from institutional protection.
The plea, moved by advocate Vineet Jindal, targets Regulation 3(c) of the UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026. It alleges that the regulation’s definition of caste-based discrimination—limited to Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC)—is “non-inclusionary” and fails to account for caste-based harassment faced by members of the unreserved or ‘general’ category.
According to the petitioner, the regulation violates Articles 14, 15(1), and 21 of the Constitution by creating an unequal framework of protection. Article 14 guarantees the right to equality, Article 15(1) prohibits discrimination on grounds including caste, and Article 21 ensures the right to life and dignity.
By focusing only on the three constitutionally recognized reserved groups, the UGC has, the plea claims, “created a hierarchy of protection” and “effectively denied institutional grievance redressal” to general category individuals who may be subjected to caste-based bias.
The petitioner has urged the Supreme Court to restrain the authorities from enforcing the regulation in its current form. The plea also seeks a broader, caste-neutral definition of discrimination that provides equal protection to all individuals who face caste-based bias, irrespective of their classification in the reservation system.
Further, it demands interim directions to ensure that mechanisms like Equal Opportunity Centres, Equity Helplines, and Ombudspersons—established under the 2026 regulations—are made accessible in a non-discriminatory manner to all students until a constitutionally compliant amendment is considered.
