CM Stalin forms high-level panel led by ex-SC judge Kurian Joseph on Centre-State relationship

CHENNAI: Close on the heels of securing a landmark verdict from the Supreme Court – that set a timeframe for governors to act on the bills passed by state legislatures – Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday announced a high-level committee led by former SC judge Joseph Kurian to protect the Constitutional rights of states and improve relations between the union and state governments.

The committee will comprise Ashok Vardhan Shetty, retired IAS officer and former vice-chancellor of Indian Maritime University, and professor M Naganathan, former vice-chairman of Tamil Nadu State Planning Commission, as members.

Making an announcement under rule 110 in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly (TNLA) – on the same day his father and former chief minister M Karunanidhi adopted a resolution accepting the recommendations of Justice Rajamannar Commission in the same House in 1974 – Stalin said, “The high-level committee will examine and re-evaluate all provisions of the Constitution of India and existing laws, orders, policies and arrangements that may have an impact on the relationship between the Union and the States."

The committee will also examine the existing Constitutional provisions and recommend measures to restore the provisions that were moved from the State List to the Concurrent List over time.

Recommending measures to address the challenges faced by states in delivering good governance and to ensure maximum autonomy to states in the administrative departments, assemblies and judicial branches, without compromising the unity and integrity of the country, will also be among the terms of the reference of the committee.

The panel should consider the recommendations of the Rajamannar Committee and other commissions on union-state relations formed since 1971 as well as the various political, social, economic and legal developments that have occurred in the country since then, the chief minister said and informed the House it is expected to submit its interim report by the end of January 2026 and the final report within two years.

Reasoning that the committee was constituted to protect the rights of all the states of the vast nation on the basis of "unity in diversity", the CM said, "We are not arguing for the devolution of power and resources to the states in the interest of Tamil Nadu alone, but in the interest of all the states, from Gujarat to the north-eastern states, from Kashmir to Kerala."

"In the debates on state autonomy, the first voice will always be heard from Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu, which guides the nation whenever the need arises, is coming forward to fulfil its historical duty this time too," Stalin added, vowing to implement one of the core principles of DMK, the slogan of ‘autonomy of states’ and ‘federalism at the Centre’ on the premise that prosperous states create a strong nation and fully realise the philosophy of democracy in the country.