Tamil Nadu government dissolves high-level committee on center-state relations

The Tamil Nadu government has issued a government order to dissolve a high-level committee previously established to study center-state relations. The committee was formed in 2025 under the administration of former Chief Minister M. K. Stalin and was chaired by retired Justice Kurian Joseph, with retired IAS officer K. Ashok Vardhan Shetty serving as a member. The committee had already submitted its preliminary report.

The decision follows the restructuring of the Tamil Nadu State Law Commission on August 7. The state government noted that the functions of the Law Commission, which includes reviewing existing laws and examining relations between the center and states, overlap with the duties of the high-level committee. Consequently, the government has ordered the committee to hand over all documents and records to the State Law Commission immediately.

Communist party leaders have expressed condemnation regarding the dissolution. P. Shanmugam and M. Veerapandian urged the government to reconsider the decision, arguing that the committee was intended to protect state rights against perceived central encroachment.