Kamal Ghorui
New Delhi: A day after Supreme Court stayed UGC’s Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions Regulations, 2026, the education ministry began examining on Friday the removal of the “false complaints” clause that featured in the 2025 draft but was dropped from the final notified rules.Those from the general category have argued that in the absence of a deterrent, false complaints may be used to harass them. Opponents of the regulations pointed out that the new framework includes other backward classes — a category not covered under the 2012 regulations — leaving the general category “without remedies for discrimination faced by them”.
While removing OBCs from the purview of the regulations may not be an easy option, sources said the Centre is examining whether safeguards against false complaints need to be restored and the ambit of the anti-discrimination mechanism be expanded to cover EWS.New UGC norms silent on penalty for false complaintsSupreme Court put on hold Thursday the regulations notified on Jan 13, taking serious exception to several provisions and observing that they could fuel societal divisions and have a dangerous impact on the goal of a casteless society.Sections 2 and 3(c) of the regulations, which define beneficiaries as “socially and educationally backward classes” and state that “caste-based discrimination” refers to discrimination against members of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBCs. Notably, OBCs were not mentioned in Regulation 3(c) of the draft but were added in the notified rules this year.The draft regulations provided for penalties against false complaints. The deleted provision stated that anyone filing a false discrimination complaint could face a fine determined by the equity committee, with repeat or serious violations potentially leading to disciplinary action under institutional rules.A senior govt official said, “This is being examined along with compliance with SC’s directions, including its observation on setting up a panel of experts to study the regulations.”The court flagged concerns around possible “segregation” of students. Section 7 of the regulations, dealing with measures for promotion of equity, states that any selection, segregation or allocation related to hostels, classrooms or mentorship groups must be transparent, fair and non-discriminatory.
