Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin forms high-level panel on state autonomy amid rising tensions with Centre | Chennai News

NEW DELHI: Alleging that the Centre was steadily encroaching upon the powers of the states, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Tuesday introduced the formation of a high-level committee to look at state autonomy, headed by retired Supreme Court decide Kurian Joseph.
The panel will undertake an in depth research of the connection between the Union and state governments with the intention of safeguarding state autonomy.
It is predicted to submit an interim report in January 2026 and a closing report with suggestions inside two years, Stalin knowledgeable the state meeting.
‘Push for better state powers’
The push for better state powers additionally adopted a serious growth through which 10 payments handed by the state legislature have been deemed to have change into regulation with out the Governor’s nod, after a Supreme Court verdict.
On April 8, the Supreme Court dominated that Governor RN Ravi’s determination to withhold assent to the ten re-enacted payments was “illegal and erroneous in law.” A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan emphasised that the governor is constitutionally certain to behave based mostly on the recommendation of the state legislature.
The courtroom clarified that when a invoice is reconsidered and re-presented by the state meeting, the Governor should grant assent until the invoice is considerably completely different.
“Action of the Governor to reserve the 10 bills for the President is illegal and arbitrary, and thus the action is set aside. All actions taken by the Governor thereto for the 10 bills are set aside. The 10 bills shall be deemed to be clear from the date it was re-presented to the Governor,” the judgment learn.
Some of the payments had been pending since as early as 2020.
Sharing the Supreme Court’s verdict within the Assembly on April 8, Stalin described it as a landmark second and a collective win for all Indian states.
“I would like to inform this House about good news. Our Tamil Nadu government has got one historical judgment. The governor returned various Bills, which were passed in this Assembly, without giving assent,” he stated.
Stalin added, “Tamil Nadu government initiated a case against this before Supreme Court. Supreme Court has said that the Governor withholding Bill is illegal. Supreme Court has given a historical judgement. This is a big victory not only for Tamil Nadu but for all the States in India. This judgment is a victory for all the State governments.”
‘Committee will research, as per the regulation, to switch these topics that went from the State List to the Concurrent List’
On April 4, Stalin knowledgeable the Tamil Nadu Legislative meeting that the decision handed by the state searching for exemption from the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) had been rejected by the President. He strongly criticised the choice, calling it a “dark chapter in federalism.”
The committee will even embody former bureaucrat Ashok Vardhan Shetty and former vice-chairman of the State Planning Commission, M Naganathan, as members.
“The committee will study, as per the law, to transfer those subjects that went from the State List to the Concurrent List,” the chief minister stated, additional highlighting that the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) was outdoors the jurisdiction of the states.
The newly fashioned committee, tasked with analyzing state autonomy, will conduct analysis and submit an interim report back to the state authorities by January 2026. The closing report is predicted to be accomplished by 2028.
“This committee will carry out research and provide recommendations to strengthen the relationship between the state and the Union government,” Stalin stated throughout his deal with within the state meeting.
Reiterating his opposition to the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and the three-language components below the National Education Policy (NEP), the chief minister stated NEET had resulted within the lack of many pupil lives.
“We have lost many students due to NEET exam. We have continuously opposed NEET exam. In the name of the triple language policy, the Union Government is trying to impose Hindi in Tamil Nadu.
Since we have denied NEP, Rs 2500 crore to the state has not been released by the Union Government,” Stalin stated.
He additionally urged that training be made an unique topic of the states, calling for the reversal of the forty second Constitutional Amendment which had moved training to the Concurrent List.
The chief minister’s remarks come within the wake of a Supreme Court ruling that Governor RN Ravi’s determination to withhold assent to 10 re-enacted payments was “illegal and erroneous in law.”
On April 8, a bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said, “Action of the Governor to reserve the 10 bills for the President is illegal and arbitrary, and thus the action is set aside. All actions taken by the Governor thereto for the 10 bills are set aside. The 10 bills shall be deemed to be clear from the date it was re-presented to the Governor.”