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States » SouthPosted at: May 21 2025 8:24PM


Madras HC stays TN laws on VCs appointment by govt to State-run varsities

Chennai, May 21 (UNI) The Madras High Court on Wednesday evening ordered interim stay on the laws vesting the powers to the Tamil Nadu Government on appointment of Vice-Chancellors (VCs)
for state-run Universities.
On a petition filed by a BJP member from Tirunelveli contending that state government appointing
VCs contradicts UGC guidelines, a Division Bench comprising Mr Justices G R Swaminathan and
V Lakshmi Narayanan granted the interim stay while rejecting the Tamil Nadu government's submission on hearing the matter without giving time to file its reply.
Appearing for the State government, senior counsel and DMK Rajya Sabha MP P Wilson sought to know the need for taking up the matter urgently by the vacation Bench that too at 1800 hrs in the
evening.
He also argued that hearing the matter without giving enough time for the government to file its reply was unfair.
However, the Bench rejected it and granted the interim stay.
It may be noted that Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi did not give his assent to the Bills passed in
the State Assembly, that included removing him from the post of de-facto Chancellor of State-run
varsities and making the Chief Minister as Chancellor with powers to appoint VCs.
Since they was long delay on the part of Raj Bhavan in giving its assent to the Bills, the Tamil Nadu government moved the Supreme Court against it.
The Apex court had on April 8, using the powers vested with it under Article 142 of the Constitution, delivered a landmark and historic verdict ruling that all the Bills pending with the Governor were
deemed to have got his assent.
Apart from indicting the Governor for withholding the Bills terming it as 'illegal', the Apex Court also fixed time frame for the President and the Governors to give their assent to the Bills.
Armed with the Apex Court order, the Tamil Nadu government notified all the 10 Acts in the gazette.
It was for the first time in the history the Bills have become Laws without the assent of either the President or the Governor.
The Apex Court order was welcomed by almost all parties in the State, barring the BJP.
Making a Statement in the Tamil Nadu Assembly soon after the verdict was pronounced, Chief Minister and DMK President M K Stalin termed the order against the Governor withholding assent
to the Bills passed in the House as a historic verdict for all states and a victory for state autonomy
and federalism.
He said this verdict was not only a major victory for Tamil Nadu but a victory for all state governments in the country.
The Tamil Nadu government fought for upholding DMK's lifeline of State autonomy and federal principles.
"Tamil Nadu will fight...Tamil Nadu will win", he said.
Observing that Tamil Nadu has got a historic verdict from the Supreme Court, he said the Governor has returned several Bills passed in the State Assembly without giving his assent.
"When they are passed again in the House for the second time and forwarded to him for his assent, the Governor ought to have given his assent as mandated by the Constitution. But Mr Ravi did not give his assent, delayed it and also said he has powers".
When the Tamil Nadu government moved the Supreme Court against this, the Apex Court accepted the genuine arguments of Tamil Nadu and declared that the Governor's action in not giving assent to the Bills as illegal and erroneous in law and that the Bills are ought have been received the assent.
"It's a historic verdict", he said, and also thanked the members of various parties who spoke in the House hailing the Apex Court verdict and the efforts taken by the DMK government in upholding autonomy and federalism.
In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court held that Tamil Nadu Governor Ravi’s decision to withhold assent from ten re-enacted bills and reserve them for the President was “illegal, erroneous in law,
and liable to be set aside.”
A Bench comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan ruled that the Governor failed to act in good faith, especially since the bills had been pending with him--the oldest since January 2020--and were reserved for Presidential consideration only after the Assembly re-enacted them following the Court’s verdict in the Punjab Governor's case.
The verdict had clarified that Governors cannot indefinitely sit on legislation passed by the State Assemblies.
The Court declared that the ten bills are deemed assented by Governor after their second passage
by the State Assembly.
Any action taken by the President on these bills was also declared non-est in law (was set aside),
the Apex Court ruled.
Following the Supreme Court order, Leaders of all the alliance parties of the DMK, including the Congress, VCK, MDMK, the Left Parties and other partners hailed the verdict condoning the Governor's action and stepped up their demand for his recall.
They said the Governor should no longer continue in Office after being indicted by the
Supreme Court, which had ruled that all the Bills pending before him deemed to have
received his assent.
They demanded that the Governor should either be recalled, ousted or resign from the
post.
It may be recalled as the Governor and the Governor has been having differences of opinion
of several issues, political parties leaders had earlier also demanded his recall and the DMK
also adopted a resolution demanding abolishing the post of Governor at its Legal Wing meet.
UNI GV 2010
Tags: #Madras HC stays TN laws on VCs appointment by govt to State-run varsities
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