TVK govt scraps Justice Kurian Joseph panel on Union-State relations

CHENNAI: The TVK-led Tamil Nadu government has discontinued the High-Level Committee on Union-State Relations headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Kurian Joseph, even as the panel was working on the second part of its report, which was due by May 31, 2027.

In an order November 6, Public Secretary E Sundaravalli said the committee, constituted by the previous DMK government on April 17, 2025, had been tasked with reviewing constitutional provisions, existing laws and government orders affecting Union-State relations.

The three-member panel comprised Justice Kurian Joseph, retired IAS officer K Ashok Vardhan Shetty and former State Planning Commission vice-chairman M Naganathan. It submitted the first part of its report to then Chief Minister MK Stalin in February 2026.

The government order noted that the Tamil Nadu State Law Commission was reconstituted on August 7, 2026, with a broad mandate to examine inter-State and Centre-State relations, review existing laws and recommend improvements to the State's legal and institutional framework.

Since the Justice Kurian Joseph committee was a non-statutory body and its functions substantially overlapped with those of the State Law Commission, the government decided to discontinue its services with immediate effect.

The committee's Secretary and Committee Officer have been directed to hand over all records and relevant documents to the State Law Commission and submit a compliance report.

The committee had been facing administrative difficulties since the TVK government assumed office. Naganathan resigned from the panel, while the government did not extend the existing staff arrangements. Research scholars and office assistants were subsequently relieved, affecting work on the second part of the report.

The latest order formally brings the committee's work to an end, more than six months before the deadline for submitting its second report.