Tamil Nadu report wants governors 'defanged'

NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu on Wednesday pitched for greater federalism, with the state assembly tabling the Justice Kurian Joseph Committee report on Centre-state relations that recommended diminished powers for the governor and a greater role for states in constitutional amendments.

In Part-1 of the report, which runs into 387 pages, the three-member panel said for the appointment of state governors, Article 155 of the Constitution should be amended "to bind the President to appoint one of the three names approved by a majority of the state assembly". It recommended a non-renewable five-year term for governors and proposed they be barred from holding any further constitutional office except that of the President and the vice-president.

CM MK Stalin called for constitutional amendments and structural reforms to decentralise powers and provide greater autonomy to states. "How long should we remain the receiver and the Union the provider?" he said.

Governors should not hold office in a political party or any office of the executive, legislature or judiciary in the five years preceding appointment, the report said. It also sought amendments to impose timelines for gubernatorial and presidential action on bills, with deemed assent on expiry, citing the framework laid down by Supreme Court in April 2025.

The committee recommended doing away with the governor's address at the start of an assembly session and divesting the governor of the statutory role of chancellor of state universities. "Dissolution (of the legislative assembly) shall be ordered solely on ministerial advice," it suggested.

The panel sought a larger say for states in elections, education, health, delimitation and GST. The report slammed the three-language formula and suggested the country shift from "weak trilingualism to high-proficiency bilingualism". It said India must abandon the "one nation one language" policy and urged Union govt to correct Census distortions by ending misclassification of 53 languages as dialects of Hindi.

On territorial integrity, the panel said the consent of the affected state legislature should be obtained before the President recommends introducing a bill to create a new state, and that the same principle should apply to altering the area, boundaries or name of a state.

The report said the "one nation, one election" proposal should be withdrawn as it violates the basic structure of the Constitution. It proposed limiting EC's role to elections for Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, President, Vice-President and Union Territories, while independent state election commissions conduct polls to state legislatures and local bodies.

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