President Droupadi Murmu has sent back the University of Madras (Amendment) Bill to the Tamil Nadu government, dealing a setback to the DMK administration’s attempt to wrest greater control over the functioning of state-run universities.
The move once again highlights the prolonged standoff between the state government and Governor R.N. Ravi, particularly over the appointment of vice-chancellors in Tamil Nadu’s universities.
The Bill, cleared by the Tamil Nadu Assembly in April 2022, proposed changes to the University of Madras Act to shift the authority to appoint and remove the vice-chancellor from the Governor—who acts as the ex-officio chancellor—to the state government. By substituting the word “chancellor” with “government” in the Act, the legislation sought to make the elected government the final decision-maker in matters of academic leadership.
After the Bill was passed, Governor Ravi reserved it for the President’s consideration, arguing that the proposed amendments might conflict with University Grants Commission regulations and long-established procedures governing vice-chancellor appointments.
“With the President returning the Bill without assent, the state will now have to reconsider the legislation as per constitutional provisions,” a senior official in the higher education department said.
Officials declined to comment on the specific reasons cited by the President’s office for returning the Bill. The development comes at a time when 14 of the 22 state universities in Tamil Nadu are without full-time vice-chancellors. Several institutions, including the University of Madras—one of the country’s oldest universities—are currently being run by convenor committees.
The University of Madras has been without a regular vice-chancellor since August 2023. “The lack of permanent leadership has disrupted academic planning, delayed research approvals and affected routine administration,” a senior faculty member said.
The DMK government has consistently held the Governor responsible for the leadership crisis, accusing him of withholding assent to key legislation and slowing down the appointment process for vice-chancellors. The dispute previously reached the Supreme Court, which in April this year delivered a significant ruling on the powers of governors in dealing with state legislation. Exercising its extraordinary authority under Article 142, the court granted “deemed assent” to 10 amendment Bills passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly in 2022, including those related to vice-chancellor appointments in 18 state universities.
Following the verdict, the state government went ahead with appointing vice-chancellors to those universities. However, fresh petitions challenging the ruling led to further legal scrutiny in both the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court.
The University of Madras (Amendment) Bill, which was not covered by the Supreme Court’s intervention, remained pending with the President until now. While the state government did not issue an official statement on Monday, a higher education department official said the government would “explore all available legal and legislative options” in response to the development.
