Supreme Court Stays UGC's 2026 Regulations | 31 Jan 2026

Source: TH 

The Supreme Court (SC) has issued an interim stay on the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026, citing concerns of potential division of society and undermining campus unity. 

• Judicial Intervention: Since the 2012 Regulations had been repealed, the Court, exercising its powers under Article 142, directed that the UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2012 would continue to apply until further orders. 
• Background & Context: The 2026 Regulations were formulated in response to the ongoing case Abeda Salim Tadvi v. Union of India (2019), which seeks to establish a mechanism to end caste-based discrimination on campuses. 
• Key Legal & Definitional Challenges to 2026 Regulations: The petitions specifically challenged Section 3(1)(c), which exclusively defines discrimination against SC, ST, and OBC members, thereby excluding the general category.  
  • The bench questioned the necessity of this narrow provision, as Section 3(1)(e) already provides a broader, inclusive definition of discrimination based on religion, race, caste, gender, place of birth, or disability. 
  • The SC raised questions on whether the UGC 2026 Regulations adequately cover harassment on regional lines, intra-caste harassment by economically privileged individuals, and incidents of ragging. Moreover, the Regulations contain no mechanism to penalize false complaints.  
• Core Judicial Concerns: The SC invoked the "principle of no-regression" from environmental and social justice law, questioning why the 2026 rules were less inclusive than the 2012 version.  
  • The bench examined the regulation through the lens of Article 15(4) that enables the State to make special provisions for the advancement of socially and educationally backward classes, including SCs and STs.