SC allows UGC to notify anti-discrimination rules in colleges, universities
The court was hearing PIL filed by mothers of Rohith Vemula and Payal Tadvi, who died by suicide in 2016 due to alleged caste discrimination
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the University Grants Commission (UGC) to notify its regulations aimed at combating caste-based discrimination and suicides in higher education institutions, clarifying that its recent decision to set up a National Task Force (NTF) to address campus discrimination-linked suicides will not hinder the process.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Radhika Vemula and Abeda Salim Tadvi, mothers of Rohith Vemula and Payal Tadvi, who died by suicide in 2016 because of alleged caste discrimination. The 2019 petition urged the court to enforce robust anti-discrimination mechanisms across higher education institutions, citing the failure in implementing UGC’s 2012 equity regulations.
The petitioners had requested the top court to wait to finalise the UGC draft on Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions Regulations, 2025, citing a “possible overlap between the issue being considered in their petition.”
Turning down their request, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh said, “There are numerous sections of society, that we may call voiceless people, who are waiting for these regulations. If they get some protection, respect, safety and security out of these regulations, let them get it.”
Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing on behalf of the UGC, informed the court that a meeting was underway to finalise the draft regulations. “We deem it appropriate to clarify that UGC may proceed with finalisation of its Draft Regulations 2025 and may notify the same,” the court said.
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It further clarified that these regulations will operate in addition to whatever is recommended by the NTF, chaired by former Supreme Court judge Justice (retd.) S Ravindra Bhat, and comprising representatives from the ministries of higher education, social welfare, women and child development, and legal affairs of the Government of India.
While ordering a police probe into the deaths of two IIT Delhi students belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities in 2023, the Supreme Court on March 24 also tasked the NTF with identifying the predominant causes of student suicides—including caste-based discrimination—and proposing steps to strengthen protective mechanisms within four months.
Welcoming the formation of the NTF, the Justice Kant-led bench said such recommendations will require time to be implemented. “How will staying the UGC regulations help your cause? Let us assume the UGC regulations will partly address the problem. The NTF recommendations, once they come, will require a judicial command to come into operation or the Union government will be asked to implement it. This may take six months to one year. Till then, the new UGC regulations can do something better.”
Senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for the petitioners, expressed concern over the draft UGC regulations. Jaising said the regulations have merged discrimination based on caste, sexual harassment, ragging, and disabled persons, which creates an administrative issue as every form of discrimination exists in different ways.
She also informed the court that while she has submitted her suggestions to the UGC, it must remain open for her to challenge the validity of the final regulations once notified.
The bench said, “Pending recommendations of NTF and/or implementation of such recommendations and its consequential implementation, petitioner or any public-spirited person shall be at liberty to move appropriate application in these proceedings to suggest suitable addition, deletion or modifications to the regulations notified by the UGC.”
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The court permitted the petitioners to make suggestions to the NTF.
During earlier hearings, the bench had termed it “extremely unfortunate” that suicides were occurring in higher educational institutions (HEIs) due to caste discrimination, and had urged the Centre to create a “strong and robust” mechanism to deal with the issue.
The UGC had earlier informed the court, on February 27, that the draft regulations are designed to foster equity, inclusion, and non-discrimination within HEIs across India, in alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
While Vemula, a PhD scholar at Hyderabad Central University died on January 17, 2016, Tadvi, a student at TN Topiwala National Medical College, died on May 22, 2019, after she was subjected to purported discrimination by three doctors in her college.
