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Blow to Tamil Nadu government as Madras HC orders interim stay on 10 Acts

Blow to Tamil Nadu government as Madras HC orders interim stay on 10 Acts

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Wednesday temporarily stayed the operation of the 10 amendment Acts covering various state-run universities, which transferred the powers to appoint vice-chancellors from the governor-chancellor to the Tamil Nadu government.
A vacation bench of justices G R Swaminathan and V Lakshminarayanan granted the interim stay despite strong objections raised by the state government and the higher education department against passing any interim orders without hearing them in detail as the issue is related to the constitutionality of the legislations.
These 10 amendment Acts were notified and came into force on April 11, after the Supreme Court granted deemed assent to the bills in its landmark verdict on April 8 in the case filed by Tamil Nadu government against Governor R N Ravi for delaying assent to the bills.
A BJP-affiliated advocate K Venkatachalapathy alias Kutty of Tirunelveli district moved the HC praying for staying the operation of the Acts. Senior counsel Dama Seshadri Naidu, assisted by V R Shanmuganathan, represented the petitioner and argued that the Acts are repugnant to Regulation 7.3 of the UGC Regulations on Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and Other Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges, 2018, regarding appointment of vice-chancellors.
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