The United States Supreme Court on Thursday, 29 June, overturned the practice of race-based admissions in universities, also known as "affirmative action".
The judgment upends a decades-old policy in the country on affirmative action, also known as positive discrimination. The case being heard was concerning admissions at prestigious US universities like Harvard and the University of North Carolina (UNC).
"Such [race-based] admission programmes must comply with strict scrutiny, may never use race as a stereotype or negative, and must - at some point, end," the judgment read, as per BBC.
Chief Justice John Roberts said that while the admissions programmes in both universities were "well-intentioned", they "fail each of these criteria".
The policy had first come into being in the 1960s, and was defended as a tool to increase diversity in educational institutions.
By ruling against affirmative action, the US Supreme Court sided with Students for Fair Admissions, which has been a vocal critic of the practice.
The group had earlier appealed the decisions of lower courts which had upheld the practice in renowned US institutions.
Several Republicans had also opposed affirmative action, arguing that granting advantages on the basis of race was against the US Constitution.
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