Justice Kurian Joseph to Head Tamil Nadu Panel on State Autonomy
(Judicial Quest News Network)
Chennai 15- April – In an important move to uphold the constitutional principles of federalism, the Tamil Nadu government has constituted a high-level committee to study issues related to state autonomy. The panel will be chaired by Justice Kurian Joseph, former Supreme Court judge, who has graciously agreed to lead the committee on an honorary basis, without any remuneration.
The announcement was made by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin during his address to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. The committee also includes Ashok Vardhan Shetty, retired IAS officer, and Professor M. Naganathan, former Vice Chairman of the State Planning Commission, as members.
Chief Minister Stalin stated that the objective of the committee is to examine and propose measures to safeguard the legitimate rights of states as enshrined in the Constitution of India, and to explore ways to recalibrate the Centre-State relationship in the present-day context.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Stalin emphasized that the initiative seeks to “reassert the principles of federalism” and strengthen the voice of the states within the constitutional framework.
The announcement comes on the heels of a landmark Supreme Court judgment that ruled unconstitutional the Governor of Tamil Nadu’s prolonged withholding of assent to 10 bills passed by the State Assembly—adding urgency and relevance to the formation of this expert panel.
Justice Kurian Joseph, B.A., LL.B., born on November 30, 1953. He was enrolled as an Advocate on December 16, 1979. He practiced in the Kerala High Court and Additional District Court generally in all the branches of law and specialized in Constitutional, Service and Labour matters. He was appointed as a Judge of the Kerala High Court on July 12, 2000. He was the President of Kerala Judicial Academy during 2006-2008. He was the Executive Chairman of Kerala State Legal Services Authority during 2009-2010. He was appointed as Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court on February 08, 2010. He was appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India on March 8, 2013. He retired on November 29, 2018.
