Supreme Court agrees to examine Tamil Nadu's plea against Madras HC stay on nine Acts on V-C appointments in universities
A Bench of Justices PS Narasimha and R. Mahadevan issued notice to the petitioner in the High Court, advocate K. Venkatachalapathy; the Union government; the University Grants Commission (UGC); the office of the Tamil Nadu Governor; and the Human Resources and Development Ministry arraigned as respondents in the special leave petition filed by the State of Tamil Nadu.
The Bench observed that a transfer petition filed by the State, to shift the case from the Madras High Court to the top court, was already pending and scheduled to be listed soon after the summer vacations in mid July.
Tagging the petition with the transfer plea, Justice Narasimha said the parties could approach the Chief Justice of India for an early hearing. The court preferred to wait for the respondents' response to a plea by the State for an interim relief of stay of the May 21 order.
Senior advocates AM Singhvi, Rakesh Dwivedi and P. Wilson appeared for Tamil Nadu.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the UGC, said the Acts were completely repugnant to the UGC Regulations of 2018.
The State argued that the High Court had ordered the stay on May 21 despite the Supreme Court, in an April 8 judgment, declaring that the Bills were granted 'deemed assent' by Governor R.N. Ravi. The State government had notified the proposed laws following the judgment.
The Acts in question include The Tamil Nadu University Amendment Act, 2020; Act No.15 of 2025-The Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (Amendment) Act, 2020; Act No.16 of 2025-The Tamil Nadu Universities Laws (Amendment) Act, 2022; Act No. 17 of 2025-The Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University (Amendment) Act, 2022; Act No. 18 of 2025-The Tamil Nadu Dr.M.G.R. Medical University, Chennai (Amendment) Act, 2022; Act No.19 of 2025-The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (Amendment) Act, 2022; Act No.20 of 2025-The Tamil University (Second Amendment) Act, 2022; Act No.21 of 2025-The Tamil Nadu Fisheries University (Amendment) Act, 2023; Act No.22 of 2025-The Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (Amendment) Act, 2023.
The State has argued that there was a strong presumption of constitutionality against laws passed by the legislature.
'Courts should be slow in passing interim orders in matters challenging constitutionality of provisions and against the strong presumption of constitutionality. The High Court passed an interim order directing stay of operation of provisions which take away power of appointment of Vice Chancellor from the hands of the Chancellor and vest the same in the government,' the State's petition submitted.
Pertinently, the State has also argued that the writ petition was filed in the High Court during vacations, without pleading any urgency in the matter.
The State said its appeal has raised questions of law with wide ramifications pertaining to the issue of federalism and State autonomy to establish, regulate and administer State Universities under Entry 32 List II of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution along with the issues pertaining to judicial impropriety and discipline in keeping a hands-off approach.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Indian Express
5 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
AIADMK seeks action against two top bureaucrats for contempt of court
CHENNAI: AIADMK, the principal opposition party, on Monday moved a contempt of court petition, seeking the Madras High Court to punish two senior bureaucrats of Tamil Nadu for launching the 'Nalam Kaakum Stalin' scheme, carrying chief minister's name, and thereby disobeying the interim orders of the court that cited Supreme Court's guidelines to restrain the use of names of living personalities in government schemes. The contempt petition was moved by AIADMK's Rajya Sabha member and former law minister C Ve Shanmugam. It was on his public interest litigation petition that the court had pronounced the interim orders on Thursday. While the contempt petition is yet to come up for hearing, the first bench of the court headed by Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava on Monday adjourned the hearing of the modification petition moved by the state government on Friday regarding the interim orders issued in Shanmugam's PIL. The bench decided to adjourn the hearing after it was brought to its notice that the DMK, the fourth respondent in Shanmugam's PIL, had moved the Supreme Court on Monday with a special leave petition (SLP) against the interim orders. The apex court is expected to hear it on Wednesday. Although senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing TN government, wanted to place his arguments, irrespective of the SLP, the bench said it would be better to wait till the SC hears the SLP and adjourned the hearing to August 7 (Thursday). The Nalam Kaakum Stalin scheme, under which 1,256 camps are planned across TN to offer the public comprehensive health check-ups, was launched here on Saturday by CM M K Stalin.
Time of India
5 minutes ago
- Time of India
Brazil's Supreme Court orders the house arrest for former President Jair Bolsonaro, a Trump ally
Brazil's Supreme Court has placed former President Jair Bolsonaro under house arrest amid allegations of orchestrating a coup attempt following his 2022 election defeat. Justice Alexandre de Moraes cited Bolsonaro's violation of precautionary measures by spreading content through his sons. The decision follows escalating tensions, including a trade dispute with the U.S. triggered by Donald Trump's support for Bolsonaro. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Brazil' s Supreme Court on Monday ordered the house arrest for former President Jair Bolsonaro , on trial for allegedly masterminding a coup plot to remain in office despite his defeat in the 2022 election - a case that has gripped the South American country as it faces a trade war with the Trump Alexandre de Moraes , who oversees the case against Bolsonaro before the top court, said in his decision that the 70-year-old former president had violated precautionary measures imposed on him by spreading content through his three lawmaker lawyers said in a statement that he will appeal the decision. They said his words "good afternoon, Copacabana, good afternoon my Brazil, a hug to everyone, this is for our freedom" - broadcast from a cell phone of one of his sons during a Sunday protest in Rio de Janeiro - cannot "be regarded as ignoring precautionary measures or as a criminal act."The trial of the far-right leader is receiving renewed attention after U.S. President Donald Trump directly tied a 50% tariff on imported Brazilian goods to his ally's judicial situation. Trump has called the proceedings a " witch hunt," triggering nationalist reactions from leaders of all branches of power in Brazil, including President Luiz Inacio Lula da case against Bolsonaro Brazil 's prosecutors accuse Bolsonaro of heading a criminal organization that plotted to overturn the election, including plans to kill Lula and Justice de Moraes after the far-right leader narrowly lost his reelection bid in order followed one from the top court last month that ordered Bolsonaro to wear an electronic ankle monitor and imposed a curfew on his activities while the proceedings are news of the arrest order, a staffer with Brazil's federal police told The Associated Press that federal agents had seized cell phones at Bolsonaro's residence in the capital of Brasilia, as ordered by de Moraes in his decision. The staffer spoke on condition of anonymity due to their lack of authorization to speak about the matter is expected to remain in Brasilia for his house arrest as he is not allowed to travel. He also has a house in Rio de Janeiro, where he held his electoral base as a lawmaker for three decades. The former army captain is the fourth former president of Brazil to be arrested since the end of the country's military rule from 1964 to 1985, which Bolsonaro supported.'Flagrant disrespect' The move from the Brazilian justice comes a day after tens of thousands of Bolsonaro supporters took the streets in the cities of Sao Paulo and Rio, pleading for Brazil's congress to pardon him and hundreds of others who are either under trial or jailed for their roles in the destruction of government buildings in Brasilia on Jan. 8, Sunday, Bolsonaro addressed supporters in Rio through the phone of one of his sons, which de Moraes' described as illegal."The flagrant disrespect to the precautionary measures was so obvious that the defendant's son, Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, decided to remove the posting in his Instagram profile, with the objective of hiding the legal transgression," de Moraes for the former Brazilian president did not make comments after the decision. Flavio Bolsonaro claimed on X that Brazil "is officially in a dictatorship" after his father's house arrest."The persecution of de Moraes against Bolsonaro has no limits!" the senator Moraes added in his ruling that Jair Bolsonaro, who governed Brazil between 2019 and 2022, has spread messages with "a clear content of encouragement and instigation to attacks against the Supreme Court and a blatant support for foreign intervention in the Brazilian Judiciary" - likely a veiled reference to Trump's support for Moraes also said that Bolsonaro "addressed protesters gathered in Copacabana, in Rio" on Sunday so his supporters could "try to coerce the Supreme Court."Last week, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions on de Moraes over alleged suppression of freedom of expression and the ongoing trial of Bolsonaro."Justice will not allow a defendant to make a fool out of it," de Moraes said in his decision. "Justice is the same for all. A defendant who willingly ignores precautionary measures - for the second time - must suffer legal consequences."Possible trouble ahead Creomar de Souza, a political analyst of Dharma Political Risk and Strategy, a political consultancy firm based in Brasilia, said Bolsonaro's house arrest opens a new moment for the country's opposition, which will could gather steam in fighting against Lula's reelection bid next de Souza said, "the 2026 election looks like turmoil" and the political debate in Brazil will likely be split between two key struggles."One is the effort of Bolsonaro supporters to keep strong on the right, no matter if it is pushing for amnesty in congress or putting themselves physically out there," the analyst said. "The second is how the Lula administration will try to show that the country has a government.""This is just the start," he latest decision from the top court keeps Bolsonaro under ankle monitoring, allows only family members and lawyers to visit him and seizes all mobile phones from his was imprisoned for 580 days between 2018 and 2019 in a corruption conviction that was later tossed out by the Supreme Court, citing the bias of the judge in the case. Michel Temer , who became president after Dilma Rousseff was impeached in 2016, was arrested for 10 days in 2019 in connection with a graft investigation, which later ended without a this year, de Moraes ordered the detention of President Fernando Collor, who was in office from 1990 to 1992 until he was impeached. The 75-year-old former president was convicted for money laundering and corruption in 2023 and is now serving his more than eight-year sentence.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
35 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Best of BS Opinion: Landing right when the ground is full of potholes
We all know that particular moment when you're walking down a familiar lane, eyes on your phone or lost in thought, when a pothole filled with muddy water suddenly appears in your path. You don't have time to study it. There's no traffic light or warning cone. You just leap — instinctively, awkwardly, hoping to clear the splash. Sometimes, you land clean. Sometimes, you get drenched despite your best effort. But in either case, the leap is a moment of decision, a refusal to sink into something messy and unfixable. Most of us don't think of it as bravery. But really, it is: the everyday kind, shaped by necessity, uncertainty, and a deep distrust of what lies beneath the surface. Let's dive in. That's what the Supreme Court just did, vaulting back from a May judgment that had declared the Bhushan Power & Steel resolution plan illegal. In recalling that verdict, the Bench led by Chief Justice B R Gavai acknowledged not just a legal misstep, but the economic splash it had caused, of risking JSW Steel's investment of Rs 20,000 crore in investment, thousands of livelihoods, and the very credibility of the IBC, notes our first editorial. It was a leap back to stable ground, but also a reminder that the potholes, like chronic NCLT delays, still remain, waiting to trip up another resolution. And in Maharashtra, two judgments revealed deeper craters in our justice system. Eighteen years of trial in the 2006 train blasts case, only to find coerced confessions and tampered evidence. Another acquittal in the Malegaon blasts. The courts jumped, but the puddles are darker here. Victims' families and the wrongly accused alike are left drenched in delayed justice, their lives shaped by a system that's failed to dry itself off. Elsewhere, Laveesh Bhandari maps a different balancing act, between India's small-town shopkeepers and the tidal force of e-commerce. The splash here is subtle: convenience versus community, price versus people. Can policy help us leap toward a hybrid model that combines reach with resilience? That may be the trick to landing without losing our footing. Prosenjit Datta, meanwhile, cautions that India's economic path is riddled with strategic potholes: rare earth dependency, tech gaps, weak AI foundations. Until we build muscle memory for self-reliance, each new global shock will feel like slipping on familiar gravel. And Chintan Girish Modi reviews A Billion Butterflies: A Life in Climate and Chaos Theory, the story of Dr Jagadish Shukla — a scientist who leapt across continents, chaos theory, and climate politics. His memoir captures a life of graceful leaps over personal pain, global geopolitics, and scientific inertia. But as he writes, too many leaders still stand at the edge, hesitant, staring into the water, waiting. Stay tuned!
