Govt can dissolve Union-State Relations Committee but not its ideas and input, says MK Stalin

ByTech Word News

In a letter to Justice Kurian Joseph (centre), chairman of the High Level Committee on Union-State Relations and K. Ashok Vardhan Shetty (left), its member, former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, said the state government’s decision to dissolve the committee was unacceptable. | Photo credit: R. Ravindran

DMK President MK Stalin on Monday (Nov 9, 2026) said he was very disappointed with the dissolution of the High Level Committee on Union-State Relations, which was expected to submit its final report by May 2027.

In a letter to Justice Kurian Joseph, chairman of the committee and K. Ashok Vardhan Shetty, its member, he said the state government’s decision to dissolve the committee was unacceptable, especially when the first part of its report had sparked constructive debates across the country and the research for the second part was almost complete.

“Just like the Justice Rajamannar Committee, which became a milestone in the history of state autonomy, the Justice Kurian Committee would also achieve a similar distinction by contributing immensely to the debates aimed at enriching federalism in the country. The report would show that Tamil Nadu was not only fighting for its own rights but also for the rights of all states in India,” Stalin said.

The former Chief Minister said the argument that the High Level Committee’s mandate overlapped with that of the Tamil Nadu State Law Commission set up in August 2026 was unacceptable. “The differences between the two have been artificially created to do without the High Level Committee,” he said, adding that the government’s decision wasted the intellectual wealth, experience and research accumulated on the subject.

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“Can a team of doctors performing an operation be replaced just because the management of the hospital has changed? The government can disband the committee, but it cannot thwart its vision and contribution,” he said.

Mr. Stalin said that when he constituted the committee when he was the Chief Minister, he could vouch for the honesty and dedication of its members.

Published – 9 Nov 2026 21:59 IST