Tamil Nadu moves Supreme Court against governor over reserved university bill

In an ongoing tussle with Governor R N Ravi, the Tamil Nadu government has approached the Supreme Court accusing him of acting “unconstitutionally” for reserving a state Bill for the consideration of the President instead of granting assent.

In its petition, Tamil Nadu has challenged the Governor’s decision to send The Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University (Amendment) Bill, 2025 to the President. The Bill seeks to transfer the powers to appoint and remove the vice-chancellor of the university from the governor (as chancellor) to the state government.

Arguing that the Governor’s move violates Articles 163 and 200 of the Constitution, which require him to act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, the state government said that he has “converted Raj Bhavan into a constitutional court” by examining the validity of the Bill on his own.

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The Governor in a letter dated July 14, however, cited a potential conflict with Clause 7.3 of the University Grants Commission ( UGC ) Regulations 2018, which deals with appointments of vice-chancellors, as the reason for sending the bill to the President of India for consideration. The government, on the other hand, maintains that the UGC clause is not binding on the state universities and goes beyond the Union’s legislative powers.

Tamil Nadu seeks SC intervention

The petition, filed by the State through Chief Secretary Shiv Das Meena, seeks the top court’s intervention to declare the Governor’s act illegal and unconstitutional and quash his letter blocking the bill. It also urged SC to direct the UGC and the Union Home Ministry to return the Bill to the Governor for approval and declare the UGC norm as unconstitutional.

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The state also sought an interim order restraining the commission and Centre from processing the bill until a decision is taken on the petition.

Tamil Nadu government cited a recent Supreme Court verdict in State of Tamil Nadu vs. Governor of Tamil Nadu (2025), where the court held that the Governor has no discretion to withhold or reserve Bills except under limited constitutional exceptions. The judgment had criticised the withholding of ten state Bills by the Governor as “lacking in bona fides.”