Consider views to combat ragging, sexual harassment, caste bias: Supreme Court to UGC

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday directed the UGC to consider while framing draft regulations, the suggestions to combat ragging, sexual harassment and discrimination on the basis of caste, gender, disability, among other biases in institutions of higher learning to prevent students suicides.

While asking the University Grants Commission (UGC) to consider the suggestions within two months, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi asked it also consider the views of the mothers of students Rohith Vemula and Payal Tadvi, who allegedly died by suicide after facing caste-based discrimination in their respective campuses.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said the draft regulations were published and an expert committee examined over 300 objections that were received.

"The expert committee after examining the objections has asked the UGC to make certain amendments in draft regulations. The UGC is currently examining those recommendations of the expert committee," he said.

Senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for the mothers, said all they wanted was the UGC considering their suggestions to avoid any more loss of lives.

The suggestions recorded by the bench include prohibition of discriminatory practices, non-segregation measures like higher educational institutions being prohibited from allocating hostels, classrooms, or practical/laboratory batches based on entrance rank or academic performance and prohibition of public display of merit lists or rank-based segregation within the campus and disallowing rank-based "buddy systems" for academic support, which often exclude students from marginalised backgrounds.

The suggestions also include scholarship disbursal which include delay in disbursal of scholarship and fellowship for SC, ST, and OBC students should not be used to harass them by higher educational institutions, internal grievance redressal, protection of complaints, personal liability for negligence, mental health counselling, guidelines on caste discrimination, equitable learning support, internal assessment besides other suggestions.

The top court directed the UGC to consider the suggestions within eight weeks.

On April 24, the top court allowed the UGC to notify the draft regulations 2025 which deal with ragging, sexual harassment and discrimination on the basis of caste, gender, disability, among other biases in institutions of higher learning.

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.

The UGC was previously ordered to notify draft regulations to ensure no caste-based discrimination happened with students in the central, state, private and deemed universities and asked for data on equal opportunity cells in compliance with the UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Educational Institutions Regulations) 2012.