The Supreme Court on Thursday put in abeyance the UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, after noting, "We are sorry to say, the Regulations, prima facie, the language is completely vague, the provisions are capable of being misused and the language needs to be re-modulated and redesigned". After sending notices to the Union of India and University Grants Commission, the bench posted the matter for the next hearing on March 19.
The bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, after hearing three petitions, directed that the 2012 regulations shall continue to remain in force till the matter is finally disposed of. "In the country, after 75 years, whatever we have gained to move towards the goal of a casteless society, are we enacting a regressive policy?" Chief Justice Surya Kant said.
The SC judges said, while they were all for creation of "a free, inclusive and equitable atmosphere in universities...there are four or five serious concerns. If those are not addressed, the regulations will otherwise have sweeping consequences". Advocated Vishnu Shankar Jain, arguing for the petitioners, said the regulations presume that only a certain category of students belonging to certain castes face discrimination in universities. They keep general category candidates outside their purview, leaving such students without remedies for discrimination faced by them.
The Chief Justice said, "This kind of regulation can be exploited by mischievous elements...We should not go to a stage where we will have segregated schools as in the US for blacks and whites. Unity of India must be reflected in educational institutions." The bench said that there can be serious consequences if division on the basis of castes is allowed and judiciary must intervene.
During Thursday's hearing, Sections 3(c) and 3(e) of UGC Regulations were debated. Most of the protests are over some new provisions added to Sec 3(c). The bench said, when caste discrimination has already been mentioned in Sec 3(e), what was the need to add new provisions in Section 3(c)? Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain said, Sec 3(c) keeps members of the general category out of its purview, and this goes against the fundamental rights of equality. This section, he said, presumes that there is no discrimination happening against general category students.
There was jubilation among general category students in Delhi, Lucknow, Varanasi and Patna where the protesters celebrated the Supreme Court stay, but at the same time, they cautioned that the regulations have not been rejected by the apex court as of now.
It is a good sign that the Supreme Court understood the pain of general category students over UGC regulations. While enacting law, care must be taken to ensure that there is no division in society, but this regulation, which was drafted to remove discrimination, has divided society on caste lines. If such regulations are implemented, there will be schools and colleges functioning on caste lines. Students will be divided into forward and backward communities. Most of the political parties have realised this and they have heaved a sigh of relief after the apex court's stay. The UGC regulations were one-sided. It is now for the expert committee to be set up on the advice of the Supreme Court, which will go deep into this matter, and new points will come to the fore.
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