New Delhi . The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to quickly hear the public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the new rules of the University Grants Commission (UGC). UGC implemented ‘Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions Regulations 2026’ on January 13. Under this, many institutions were instructed to form equality committees and implement anti-discrimination policy. The PIL was presented before the bench of Chief Justice (CJI) Surya Kant. “We are aware of the case,” the CJI said. He told the petitioner, “You ensure that the shortcomings (in the PLI) are removed. We will hear it.” These rules have been challenged on the grounds that they prevent ‘general category’ students from filing complaints under their own grievance redressal mechanism. The petitioner argued that the new rules discriminate against general category students.
The petition filed in the Supreme Court also argued that these rules are discriminatory as they deny grievance redressal and institutional protection to those who do not belong to the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (SC-ST) or Other Backward Class (OBC) category.
The petitioner has sought directions to stop the implementation of the rules in their present form. The petition appealed that denying access to grievance redressal mechanisms on the basis of caste identity amounts to unacceptable state discrimination. The petition states that this selective framework not only condones but effectively encourages unchecked hostility against non-reserved categories, thereby making the rules an instrument of division rather than equality.
Let us tell you that many petitions and applications have been filed in the Supreme Court to challenge these rules. The case of Rahul Diwan and others vs Union was taken up.
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