The Supreme Court has taken a stern stand on the Tamil Nadu governor vs government row and observed it would intervene if the issue regarding the appointment of vice-chancellors is not resolved before the next hearing. The apex court will next hear the case on Wednesday.
Hearing the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government’s pleas against Governor R.N. Ravi, the Supreme Court orally directed the state government and governor to resolve the deadlock. A bench comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan observed, “We will resolve this. By the next date, if it is resolved well and good. Otherwise, we will resolve it,” Live Law reported. The bench will next hear the pleas on January 22.
The DMK government has moved the Supreme Court against the governor, over delaying sanction to bills passed by the government and appointment of vice-chancellors to state universities. The state government accused the governor of deliberately delaying the sanction of bills passed by the state legislature. The state government has also challenged notifications unilaterally issued by the governor for constituting search-and-selection committees for the appointment of vice-chancellors to three universities.
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The apex court’s ultimatum comes at a time when the relationship between Governor Ravi and Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has soured further owing to the national anthem row. For the third year in a row, Governor Ravi walked out of the Tamil Nadu Assembly without delivering his customary address at the beginning of the assembly session.
While the chief minister termed governor’s act “childish”, Ravi accused the DMK government of brazenly disrespecting the Constitution and national anthem. Ravi walked out of the assembly session upset over the state government and the speaker’s decision to not play the national anthem at the beginning of his address. As per the custom of the Tamil Nadu Assembly, Tamil Thai Vazhthu is played at the beginning of the governor’s address and the national anthem is played in the end.