The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the controversial equity regulations issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC) on preventing caste-based discrimination on campuses. “If we do not intervene it will lead to dangerous impact, will divide the society and will have grave impact… Prima facie we say that the language of the regulation is vague and experts need to look into for the language to be modulated so that it is not exploited,” a bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said.
The SC also sought responses by March 19 of the Centre and the UGC on three pleas against the regulations on the grounds that caste-based discrimination is defined strictly as discrimination against members of the SCs, STs and OBCs.
While staying the recent regulations, the bench invoked its powers under Article 142 to revive the UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2012, noting that the repeal of the earlier framework would otherwise leave students without any remedy.