Petitioner K Venkatachalapathy contended that the twelve amendments brought in by the State government were repugnant to the Central law, namely the UGC Regulations. He argued that the UGC Regulations mandate that the Chancellor appoint Vice-Chancellors from a panel recommended by the Search Committee and that, by vesting this power in the State government, the amendments override the Chancellor’s role.

While entertaining the petition, the High Court had earlier granted an interim stay on the amendments brought in by the Tamil Nadu government, which took away the Governor’s power to appoint Vice-Chancellors to State-run universities.

Aggrieved by the interim order, the State government preferred an appeal before the Supreme Court of India, which set aside the stay and directed the High Court to proceed with the hearing of the main matter.

When the matter came up for hearing before a division bench comprising Chief Justice SA Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan, the State government sought time to file its response.