Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Awrit petition has been filed before the Supreme Court challenging the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026, alleging that it institutionalises discrimination by denying grievance redressal mechanisms to persons belonging to non-SC/ST/OBC categories.
The petitioner has sought an appropriate writ, order, or direction restraining the authorities from enforcing Regulation 3(c) “in its present exclusionary form”, contending that it restricts the scope of “caste-based discrimination” only to members of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.
According to the plea, 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 2026 Regulations are made available in a “non-discriminatory and caste-neutral manner”, pending reconsideration or amendment of Regulation 3(c). The petitioner has 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.
“The impugned provision institutionalises exclusion at the threshold, creates a hierarchy of victimhood, and introduces a constitutionally impermissible bias into a regulatory framework that purports to be neutral and inclusive,” the plea stated. It also contented that the UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations defeat its own stated objective under Regulation 2, which seeks to eradicate discrimination on multiple grounds, including caste, “particularly against” specified disadvantaged groups, but not exclusively limited to them.