TN CM Stalin says 'no rest until amending Constitution to fix timelines for governors'
Chennai (PTI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK President M K Stalin on Friday asserted that "there will be no rest" until amending the Constitution to fix timelines for governors to clear Bills.
In his first reaction to the Supreme Court's advisory opinion on the Presidential Reference, he said, "Our fight for State rights and true federalism will continue."
In a statement, Stalin said that the Supreme Court’s opinion in its answer to the Presidential Reference will have no impact on the April 8, 2025 judgment in the case of State of Tamil Nadu vs Governor of Tamil Nadu.
In fact, the chief minister said that the Bench tendering the advisory opinion has reaffirmed several key principles. It includes an assertion that the elected government should be in the driver’s seat, and there cannot be two executive power centres in the State.
Constitutional functionaries must act within the constitutional framework — never above it, the governor has no fourth option to kill the Bill or exercise a pocket veto (as was done by the TN Governor) and he has no option to withhold the Bill simpliciter, were among the reaffirmed principles, the CM asserted.
The top court also affirmed again that Governor cannot indefinitely delay acting on Bills. In cases of prolonged, unexplained, and indefinite delay by the Governor in considering a Bill, States can approach the Constitutional Courts and hold Governors accountable for their deliberate inactions.
The 9-Judge Bench in Ahmedabad St. Xavier’s College Society v. State of Gujarat (1974) 1 SCC 717 (Para 109) clearly held: "Advisory opinion of the Court would have no more effect than the opinion of the law officers."
The Supreme Court’s opinion delivered on November 20 has again rejected the Tamil Nadu Governor’s theory of pocket veto and assertion that Bills can be killed or buried by the Raj Bhavan.
The CM said, "Through our legal battle, we have now compelled governors, including the Tamil Nadu Governor, who are at odds with the elected government across the country, to work in line with the elected government and be accountable for their deliberate inaction in response to the people’s will through legislation."
It has also empowered Constitutional Courts to review their actions if they obstruct the passage of Bills indefinitely, and they cannot hide behind Article 361.
The CM, furthermore, said: "I believe that no constitutional authority can claim to be above the Constitution. When even a high Constitutional Authority breaches the Constitution, the Constitutional Courts are the only remedy, and the doors of the Court must not be closed. This would undermine the rule of law in our constitutional democracy and encourage breaches of the Constitution by Governors acting with political intent.
The DMK president, dramactically added on saying, "I have promises to keep, and until our people’s will in Tamil Nadu is fulfilled through legislation, we will ensure that every constitutional apparatus functions in this country in accordance with the Constitution."
DMK MP, senior advocate, P Wilson said on Thursday that the Supreme Court's "no timelines for Governors" was only an opinion and not a judgment.
Hence, Wilson said such an opinion was not binding. It will also not have any impact on adjudication in the courts, the MP had told reporters.
It may be recalled that the Tamil Nadu government notified on April 12, 2025 as many as 10 Acts after the apex court judgment that said the bills adopted again by the Assembly and sent to the President by the Governor were deemed to have received assent.
The 10 bills cover state-run varsities, and a key aspect is the transfer the powers to appoint VCs from the Governor-chancellor to the state government.
It includes those to amend the Tamil Nadu Fisheries University Act, and the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University Act. A bill to amend the Universities laws, the Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University Act, was among the other bills.
The Madras HC had granted interim stay on the operation of these amendment Acts and the government later preferred an appeal against it in the apex court.
Days ago, the Raj Bhavan denied that Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi caused a delay in giving his assent to the bills passed by the State Assembly and it said, "81 per cent of the Bills" have been assented to by the Governor.
Taking exception to certain "unfounded and factually incorrect allegations" made in public domain that the Governor was delaying assent to the bills passed by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, and that his "actions were against the interests of the people," the Raj Bhavan said the official records of Raj Bhavan showed of the total bills received as on October 31, 2025 as much as 81 per cent were assented.
TN Governor RN Ravi and the DMK regime led by Stalin are at loggerheads over several policy issues and the Dravidian model government has often accused the Governor of being "biased, acting politically at the behest of the BJP government at the Centre" and deliberately delaying Bills passed by the Assembly.
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Delhi CM Rekha Gupta accuses Mamata Banerjee of stalling SIR; TMC hits back
Kolkata (PTI): Alleging that her West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee had approached the Supreme Court to stall the SIR exercise to prevent the identification of infiltrators, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Sunday claimed that the people of the state have made up their minds to dislodge the Trinamool Congress from power.
The TMC countered strongly, urging Gupta to "look into her own backyard" and accused her of making absurd allegations against the TMC government without checking facts.
Addressing participants at the 'Nari Sankalp Yatra' organised by the BJP's women's wing at Science City auditorium here, Gupta alleged that the "hands-off" and appeasement policies of the TMC government had allowed thousands of infiltrators to enter the state in recent years.
She claimed that this had put a strain on basic rights such as access to water, electricity, ration, education, livelihood and the right to vote for genuine citizens.
"She wants to perpetuate this and hence is trying to stall the SIR exercise, which aims at identifying and deporting infiltrators. Imagine a chief minister going to the apex court to argue against an exercise meant to ensure free and fair polls," Gupta said.
The BJP leader alleged that appeasement politics had reached an "alarming level" under the TMC regime.
Raising concerns over women's safety, she claimed that women in the state were not secure despite having a woman chief minister.
Referring to the rape-murder of a woman doctor at RG Kar Hospital, Gupta alleged that the state government had failed to respond adequately to such crimes.
She also referred to the alleged rape of a woman medic in Durgapur and another law student on a Kolkata college campus, claiming that criminals had been emboldened to commit brutalities against women.
She alleged that in crimes against women, overall crime incidents and child marriages, West Bengal remained among the top -- "a slur on a state which once led intellectual and social movements and set examples for the rest of the country," she said.
Criticising the state government's welfare initiatives, she said schemes such as Kanyashree were built on "false claims" and asserted that women needed security rather than assurances.
Accusing the state government of blocking central schemes, Gupta alleged that funds worth "lakhs of crores of rupees" had not reached the poor due to non-implementation of programmes such as Ayushman Bharat, PM Awas Yojana and Jal Jeevan Mission by the state.
"You are only interested in renaming projects and taking credit," she said.
Gupta also alleged that the education sector in the state had been adversely affected, saying several state-run schools had closed due to a shortage of teachers and that the government was opposed to the National Education Policy.
Drawing a comparison with BJP-ruled Delhi, Gupta said, "People have already voted out 'Bhaia' (a reference to former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal). Now it is your turn to bid farewell to 'Didi'." Calling upon women to resist what she termed "strong-arm tactics", she urged them to assert their strength, invoking the imagery of Goddess Durga.
"Bengal has the right to live with dignity, and women have the right to live with dignity," she added.
Reacting to Gupta's allegations, West Bengal Women and Child Welfare minister Shashi Panja accused her of making "absurd allegations" against the Trinamool Congress government ahead of elections.
Panja alleged that during Gupta's tenure in Delhi, several incidents had raised serious concerns, including reports of missing young women and a blast near the Red Fort.
She also criticised the air pollution situation in the national capital, claiming that people were struggling to breathe.
The TMC leader said that despite being in power for a year, Gupta was making "tall claims" instead of addressing key issues in Delhi.
Panja further alleged that the Delhi CM visited West Bengal during elections to "peddle false allegations" against the state government.
Rebutting Gupta, the TMC said in a post on X said, "Madam why did you go off-script again? For your edification, here are the cold, hard facts: In total cases of crimes (IPC + SLL), Bengal ranks a respectable 15th, far safer than BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat, which languish near the bottom."
"In overall crime rate, Bengal sits comfortably at 28th. Who's second? Your own Delhi. Double Engine Gujarat and Haryana grab 4th and 5th as top-tier crime havens," the TMC said.
"In child marriage, Assam again takes the shameful pole position. And yet you dare lecture Bengal? Stop embarrassing yourself, stop the hypocrisy, and maybe fix the rotting mess in your own backyard before pointing fingers at a state that's outperforming your disasters on every key metric," the TMC countered.
