On January 3, the Supreme Court directed the University Grants Commission (UGC) to gather and submit detailed data regarding caste discrimination complaints under the UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2012. The court also requested information on the number of Central, state, deemed, and private universities that have established Equal Opportunity Cells, as well as the total number of complaints received and the actions taken.
The bench, comprising Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan, took into account UGC's submission that new regulations had been formulated following certain recommendations. The court ordered the UGC to notify these new regulations and submit them to the court.
The order came in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the mothers of Rohit Vemula and Payal Tadvi, both of whom died by suicide reportedly due to caste-based discrimination in educational institutions. During the hearing, it was revealed that 115 suicides had occurred in IITs alone between 2004 and 2024, drawing the court's attention to the serious nature of the issue. The bench expressed its concern over the sensitivity of the matter and assured that the case would be heard periodically to find a solution that would make the 2012 regulations a reality.
Senior advocate Indira Jaising, representing the petitioners, argued that the UGC had failed to implement the regulations, which were intended to eliminate caste discrimination in higher education. She also requested the court to seek data on suicides of students from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in educational institutions from the Central government and the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).
The court asked the Union government and NAAC to file counter-affidavits within four weeks. The PIL, filed by the mothers of Vemula and Tadvi in 2019, seeks a mechanism to end caste discrimination on campuses, calling for Equal Opportunity Cells at universities with members from SC/ST communities and impartial representatives from NGOs to ensure fairness in handling complaints.
