The Supreme Court has stayed the operation of the University Grants Commission’s 2026 equity regulations dealing with the definition of caste discrimination, raising serious concerns about their impact on social cohesion in higher educational institutions. Hearing petitions against the new framework, the court said it supports the goal of equity and inclusion but warned that the regulations appeared capable of dividing society. The bench directed that the earlier 2012 UGC regulations would continue to operate for now and issued notices to the Centre and the UGC seeking their response. Petitioners argued that the new rules excluded the general category, lacked safeguards and created scope for misuse through poorly defined equity committees. The matter will now be heard on March 19, with political reactions already pouring in from across parties.