DTF: Prohibitory Order cannot stymie the movement for UGC Regulations on Equity, 2026
17 February 2026 | DTF (Democratic Teachers’ Front)
DTF Press Release
Prohibitory Order cannot stymie the movement for UGC Regulations on Equity, 2026
The DTF vehemently condemns the prohibitory order issued by the Office of the Proctor, University of Delhi, dated 17th February 2026. This order, which imposes a complete ban on public meetings, processions and demonstrations for one month, is a draconian measure designed not to maintain peace, but to stifle legitimate democratic expression. It is an instrument to try and suppress the current movement in favour of the UGC Regulations on Equity, 2026.
While the administration claims the order is necessary to prevent a deterioration of law and order, in fact this directive is fundamentally flawed, undemocratic and violative of the basic structure of the Constitution of India.
The order contravenes Article 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(b) of the Constitution of India, which guarantees the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression and the right to assemble peacefully and without arms. By imposing a blanket ban for a month, the administration has pre-emptively criminalised peaceful assembly. The citing of a police order from December 2025 is a sleight of hand.
The timing and nature of this ban also reveal a design to prevent the University from functioning as a space for democratic struggle in favour of the Constitution's core principles. The order effectively outlaws any gathering that seeks to uphold democracy, social justice and secularism.
The ongoing movements all over the country and in the University of Delhi in favour of the UGC Regulations on Equity, 2026 is a threat to the majoritarian proclivities of the ruling dispensation. The prohibitory order has been drafted as a means to try and suppress and diffuse the movement in favour of UGC Regulations on Equity, 2026.
The administration’s invocation of past law and order situations is a deliberate misdirection. It conveniently ignores that the primary source of violence and intimidation on campus in recent times has not come from peaceful protests by students, teachers and non-teaching employees but from criminal elements affiliated with the ruling dispensation. Acts of violence against teachers, students and non-teaching staff by these organised groups have been well documented. The administration of the University of Delhi has at best abetted this criminality.
Instead of administratively restraining these elements and ensuring their prosecution as per law, the administration is weaponising their violence as an excuse to impose collective punishment on the entire democratic movement. It is a cynical ploy. The criminal violence unleashed by the ruling dispensation’s denizens is being used as the pretext to further oppress those who demand accountability and justice in the context of the UGC Regulations on Equity, 2026.
The DTF demands the immediate revocation of this unconstitutional order.
We call upon the entire democratic movement to stand in solidarity with the students, teachers and non-teaching employees of the University of Delhi against this autocratic move.
The fight to reclaim the University as a space for freedom of thought and upholding constitutional values currently centred around UGC Regulations on Equity, 2026 will continue, undeterred.
Rajib Ray, President
Abha Dev Habib, Secretary