India, Jan. 28 -- A plea was filed in the Supreme Court challenging a recently notified University Grants Commission (UGC) regulation, alleging that it has adopted a non-inclusionary definition of caste-based discrimination and excludes certain categories from institutional protection.

The plea submitted that regulation 3(c) of the recently notified UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026, is "non-inclusionary" and fails to protect students and faculty who do not belong to reserved categories.

The plea, filed by Vineet Jindal, assailed the regulation on the grounds that caste-based discrimination is defined strictly as discrimination against members of the Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST)...