The Supreme Court will soon hear the petitions opposing the new rules of UGC. On Wednesday, January 28, two petitioners requested the court for an early hearing. The Chief Justice agreed to this and said, ‘We are aware of the developments. You should correct the technical deficiencies in your petition. The matter will be posted for hearing soon.
What is the matter?
UGC (University Grants Commission) has notified new rules on January 13 with the aim of promoting equality in higher education institutions. Under this, instructions have been given to form equity committees and implement anti-discrimination policies in all universities and colleges.
UGC’s argument
UGC says that in the last five years, complaints of caste discrimination in universities have increased by 118 percent. The objective of these rules is to eliminate discrimination on the basis of caste, religion, gender, place of birth and disability on campus. These rules have been prepared in accordance with the previous instructions of the Supreme Court.
Many petitions in court
Many petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court regarding UGC’s ‘Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions Regulation-2026’. In these, Rule 3(c) of the new rules has been opposed. Describing this rule as discriminatory for the general category, a demand has been made to ban its implementation. The petitions filed so far include the petitions of Mrityunjay Tiwari, Rahul Diwan and Vineet Jindal.
reference to fundamental rights
It has been said in the petitions that this provision violates the fundamental rights of the general category. This violates Article 14 (right to equality), Article 19 (freedom of expression) and Article 21 (personal liberty) of the Constitution. The new rule may increase the possibility of false complaints. There is no provision in the new rules for any action against the complainant if the complaint is found false.
applicable to all
The petitioners have said that the rules only mention discrimination against SC, ST and OBC categories. There is no provision for considering the general category as victims of discrimination. If the purpose of the new rule is to stop caste discrimination, then it should be implemented equally for all castes.
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