The Supreme Court on Monday directed the University Grants Commission to consider suggestions received from stakeholders while finalising new regulations to curb harassment and discrimination in higher educational institutions, Bar and Bench reported.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi directed the University Grants Commission to finalise the regulations within eight weeks.

The order came while hearing a public interest litigation filed in 2019 by the mothers of Rohith Vemula and Payal Tadvi, two students from marginalised communities who died by suicide after facing caste-based harassment.

Citing data accessed through a Right to Information reply, the petitioners – Radhika Vemula and Abeda Salim Tadvi – said the University Grants Commission had failed to take action against universities that did not comply with “equity regulations” notified in 2012.

“Even in the universities that have provided the data, the majority of the universities have claimed that they did not receive any complaints of caste discrimination,” the petitioners said. “Many universities also did not provide any details of the mechanism adopted by them to look into these complaints.”

In March, the Union government told the court that the University Grants Commission had prepared draft regulations addressing some of these concerns.

The Supreme Court in April said that the commission could finalise the draft rules and notify them, Live Law reported. It had also allowed the petitioners and other stakeholders to give suggestions that could be incorporated in the draft regulations.

On Monday, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymala Bagchi asked the University Grants Commission to consider suggestions such as a clear ban on discriminatory practices and disciplinary consequences for violations, and forming a grievance redressal committee in which at least 50% of the members are from the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.

The court also asked the commission to consider a recommendation to not segregate hostels or classrooms based on entrance exam ranks or academic performance, and to digitise the scholarship process so that complaints could be tracked, Live Law reported.

Vemula, a PhD scholar at Hyderabad Central University, died in 2016 after allegedly facing discrimination on account of his caste. Tadvi, a medical student working at Mumbai’s Topiwala National Medical College, died in 2019 after allegedly facing casteist abuse from three colleagues.

Radhika Vemula and Abeda Salim Tadvi, in their petition, argued that existing “equity regulations” that the University Grants Commission notified in 2012 to address complaints of caste discrimination on campuses were inadequate.