UGC Equity Rules: Centre Weighs Review Panel, Tells Supreme Court

The Centre told the Supreme Court on Thursday, 5 November, that it is considering appointing a committee to re-examine the University Grants Commission’s 2026 equity regulations. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta made the statement before a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, which had put the regulations on hold in January. The bench orally asked the government to revisit the rules, according to reports of the hearing.

2012 Rules Still Apply on Campus

For students and universities, nothing changes immediately. The UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026, were notified on 13 January and required institutions to set up Equal Opportunity Centres and Equity Committees. The Supreme Court stayed them on 29 January and ordered, using its powers under Article 142, that the 2012 regulations continue in force. Those older rules remain the framework until the court or the government decides otherwise.

“Why don’t you revisit the UGC Regulations?” CJI Surya Kant asked, as reported by Verdictum. He added that the decision should be taken “in such a way that every student is taken care of”. Mehta replied: “The government has taken a decision… The government is contemplating appointing a committee.”

Also read Prison Caste Discrimination: 23 States, UTs Yet to Answer Centre, SC Told

The Clause Behind the Challenge

The petitions, led by Mritunjay Tiwari v. Union of India, challenge Regulation 3(c). It defines caste-based discrimination only in favour of notified backward classes, which the petitioners say leaves general-category students outside the grievance mechanism. Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain appeared for the petitioner.

The regulations trace back to a 2019 petition filed by Radhika Vemula and Abeda Salim Tadvi, whose sons Rohith Vemula and Payal Tadvi died after caste-related harassment on campus. That case, Abeda Salim Tadvi v. Union of India, is being heard along with the challenge. Mehta had earlier told the court that the regulations were under reconsideration. Thursday’s statement is the first time the Centre has said a committee is under consideration.

IPB News has carried other recent orders of the same bench under the Supreme Court tag.

No Date Yet for the Next Hearing

The reports do not give a next hearing date, and the Centre has not said who would sit on the committee, what its brief would be or when it would report. Until a committee is named and the court takes up the matter again, the January stay stays in place.

Source: Based on reporting by Business Standard, Verdictum and Business Today.

Image: Wikimedia Commons.