Chennai, April 8: In the wake of the Supreme Court judgment over the 10 bills of the Tamil Nadu Assembly and matters related to its assent, involving the state government and the office of the governor, a DMK leader on Tuesday said that Governor RN Ravi ceases to be the chancellor of state-run universities as per the court verdict.
DMK cadres welcomed the judgment by bursting firecrackers and distributing sweets.
Senior DMK leader RS Bharathi, hitting out at Governor Ravi, said that if he leaves the Raj Bhavan tonight then it could be assumed that he is a self-respecting person; such a judgment has not been delivered against any governor by the court in the past over 7 decades since independence. Ravi did not give assent to bills and he functioned worse than an opposition party and acted like a foe, Bharati alleged.
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In the wake of the judgment, when reporters asked if the chief minister will be the chancellor of state-run varsities or if the government will appoint chancellors, senior advocate and DMK Rajya Sabha MP, P Wilson said the 10 bills were for removal of governor from varsities where he held the office of chancellor.
Wilson said the 10 bills were necessitated as Governor Ravi scuttled work including those related to appointment of vice-chancellors. Matters such as those related to remission of sentences and public service commission appointments were put on hold by Ravi and this prompted filing of a case in the Supreme Court.
“As per the apex court judgment, the governor is deemed to have granted assent (to the bills) and hence, governor is relieved from that (chancellor) post effective today,” he said. Further, Wilson said a person to be nominated by the Tamil Nadu government, in accordance with the provisions of the bills, would be the chancellor.
Party sources indicated that the chief minister would be the chancellor of state-run varsities.
To a question on the prospects of the office of governor/Centre appealing against the apex court judgment, Wilson said, “Whatever petition they may file we will oppose it.”
Asked about the recent rejection of a bill by the President that sought to exempt Tamil Nadu from the ambit of NEET, he said the present judgment had nothing to do with the national medical entrance test.
Explaining the SC judgement, vis-a-vis President withholding assent to Tamil Nadu’s anti-NEET Bill, he said in keeping with the scope of the verdict; though nothing has been said about NEET, the matter of witholding of assent could be challenged in court.
In a social media post, Wilson said: “I thank the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India for today’s landmark judgement upholding the Constitution, democracy and reaffirming the States’ rights and autonomy. I thank my leader the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu @mkstalin for entrusting me with the responsibility of conducting this case. I thank my learned brother senior advocates Mr Mukul Rohatgi, Mr Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Mr Rakesh Dwivedi for appearing in this case and devoting their valuable time and energy.” (PTI)
