As of today, June 4, 2025, the Tamil Nadu government has approached the Supreme Court challenging a May 21 interim order by the Madras High Court. The High Court had stayed the implementation of 10 state laws that transferred the power to appoint Vice-Chancellors (VCs) of state-run universities from the Governor to the state government. These laws were enacted following a landmark Supreme Court ruling on April 8, 2025, which had declared the Governor’s withholding of assent to these bills as unconstitutional and had used its powers under Article 142 to deem them as assented to by the Governor.

In its petition to the Supreme Court, the Tamil Nadu government argues that the High Court’s stay is in violation of the Supreme Court’s earlier judgment and that the interim order was passed without giving the state an opportunity to file a counter-affidavit. The state further contends that the writ petition was filed during the High Court’s vacation without demonstrating any urgency, and that the bench entertained the petition from an advocate affiliated with a political party, which allegedly contravened the High Court’s notification restricting vacation hearings to “very urgent matters.”

This legal battle continues to highlight the ongoing tensions between the state government and the Governor over the control of higher education institutions in Tamil Nadu.

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