Stayed Earlier, UGC Equity Regulations 2026 are Now Under 'Reconsideration'

New Delhi: The Union government informed the Supreme Court on Thursday (August 20) that it is taking a fresh look at the UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026 — the rules meant to tackle caste-based discrimination in higher education institutions — which were introduced earlier in the year and later withdrawn after outrage from the ‘general category’ (those belonging to Savarna caste groups and not the Other Backward Classes, the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes or to Dalit communities). 

Appearing before the bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court, "This is the UGC regulation matter. It is under reconsideration."

The judges have now directed the UGC to submit a detailed counter-affidavit within four weeks, with petitioners given a further two weeks after that to respond.

Senior advocate Indira Jaising, representing Radhika Vemula and Abeda Salim Tadvi, mothers of Rohit Vemula and Payal Tadvi respectively, asked the bench to set a firm timeline by which the government must complete its review.

Notified on January 13, 2026, the key provisions of the UGC Regulations, 2026 included: a) institutions must set up an Equal Opportunity Centre (EOC), an Equity Committee, and Equity Squads to address discrimination; b) a 24-hour ‘Equity Helpline’ and Equity Ambassadors will be appointed; c) the UGC will monitor compliance, and non-compliant institutions risk losing funding and other benefits.

Also read: The UGC Equity Regulations 2026 Are Now Stayed. Here's What the Backlash Reveals

The protesters who opposed the regulations claimed that this “may harass general category students and deepen caste divisions”. Supporters of these new regulations say they don’t go far enough to protect marginalised groups.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant had already put the regulations on hold on January 29, calling them "vague, capable of misuse."

At that hearing, while dealing with petitions questioning the legality of the 2026 rules, the CJI had warned, "If we don't intervene it will lead to dangerous impacts … It will divide the society and will have grave impacts."

Notably, the regulation traces its origins to a petition filed in 2019 by Radhika Vemula and Abeda Salim Tadvi who questioned the implementation of the earlier equity rules.

On January 17, 2016, Rohith Vemula, a Dalit student and a PhD candidate at the University of Hyderabad, died by suicide with a banner of the Ambedkar Students Association and left behind a searing note talking of unfinished dreams and how he felt his “birth was his fatal accident”. Ironically, the university and the Union government have tried to focus not on the causes of the tragedy but on Rohith Vemula’s caste, claiming he was not a Dalit in the first place.

Also read: UGC’s Equity Regulations 2026: A Legal, Historical and Normative Inquiry

Similarly, Payal Tadvi, a 26-year-old postgraduate resident doctor at Nair Hospital in Mumbai, was subjected to a sustained humiliation and torture by her three caste Hindu seniors and finally, on May 22, she died by suicide. Payal Tadvi belonged to the tribal Muslim community of Tadvi Bhils.

Between 2019 and 2023, 31 students died by suicide in IITs, of which 17 (54.83%) were from SC (five), ST (one), OBC (nine), and minority (two) communities. During the same period, 13 people died by suicide at AIIMS, including two from the ST community, four OBCs, and one minority – accounting for 53.84%. In NITs, 22 students died by suicide, including four from the SC, eight from the OBC, and one from the minority community – a total of 59.09% – in these five years, according to data provided in the Rajya Sabha in 2023.

Caste-based discrimination complaints in universities and colleges jumped 118.4% from 2019-20 to 2023-24, according to UGC data submitted to a parliamentary panel and the Supreme Court. The UGC received 1,160 complaints from Equal Opportunity Cells and SC/ST Cells across 704 universities and 1,553 colleges during this period. The reported incidents rose from 173 in 2019-20 to 378 in 2023-24, the data showed.

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