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New Indian Express
3 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Family values: Court affirms Tamil Nadu's inclusive gender traditions
In a landmark ruling delivered earlier this month, the Madras High Court affirmed that same-sex couples can form families without legal marriage. It marked a major milestone for LGBTQIA+ rights in India, particularly in Tamil Nadu. Emerging from a habeas corpus petition, the ruling addressed the case of a 25-yearold lesbian woman detained by her natal family. Her partner sought her release so that they could live together. While securing her freedom, Justices G R Swaminathan and V Lakshminarayanan expanded the definition of family under Indian law, emphasising personal autonomy and right to self-determination. It comes decades after the 2002 suicide of two lesbian women in Erode's Satyamangalam forest after facing societal rejection of their relationship. Despite this, the 2025 verdict builds on Tamil Nadu's progressive legacy rooted in both legal reforms and Indic traditions fostering wider acceptance of diverse identities. The verdict signals progress while recognising the concept of a 'chosen family' under Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees life and personal liberty. The court's assertion that 'marriage is not the sole mode to found a family' validates non-traditional relationships and offers hope where despair once prevailed. Despite a section of society refusing to accept gender-diverse communities, every May to July, vast numbers of indigenous gender-variant and diverse SOGIESC (sexual orientation, gender identity, expression, and sex characteristics) communities in south India honour their patron deities at temples such as those for Koothandavar Aravan in Tamil Nadu, and for Ellamma, Bhagavati and Mariamman across the region. These communities enact gender-specific Hindu rituals, which have historically provided sacred spaces for early LGBTQIA+ activism. This cultural acceptance, though not universal, has helped shape a more inclusive societal framework and complemented the legal efforts. The court's legal reasoning in the latest case was meticulous. The detainee confirmed her lesbian identity and desire to live with her partner, exposing familial coercion. The judges, referencing the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling in the Supriyo @ Supriya Chakraborty case, noted while same-sex marriage remains unrecognised, same-sex couples can still form families. The court criticised police inaction and directed law enforcement to protect the couple, reinforcing the judiciary's role in safeguarding individual rights against societal and familial pressures
Hindustan Times
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Madras HC says funds payable by Centre to state to implement RTE need not be linked to NEP
The Madras high court on Tuesday observed that the funds payable by the Union government towards the state government to implement the Right to Education (RTE) Act need not be linked to the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. 'It is true that implementation of the Samagra Shiksha Scheme (SSS) is aligned to NEP 2020. But then, obligation under the RTE Act is independent by itself…. We, therefore, direct the Central Government to consider de-linking the RTE component of SSS and disburse the funds accordingly,' the high court said in its orders. The issue has been raging in Tamil Nadu, where the ruling DMK has lamented about lack of central funds in various spheres including education. The state has refused to implement the NEP in full. A bench of justices GR Swaminathan and V Lakshminarayanan who reserved the orders in the case during vacation sitting in May pronounced them on Monday. It was based on a writ filed by a petitioner V Eswaran in public interest seeking a direction to the school education department in the state and Centre to initiate the admission process under RTE immediately for the current academic year. Though the admission must happen before the academic year commences, until the second week of May, steps were not taken to receive applications online, the petitioner had contended. 'Section 7 of the Act states that the Central Government and the State Governments have concurrent responsibility for providing funds for carrying out the provisions of the Act. Section 7(3) of the Act mandates that the Central Government shall provide to the State Government as grant in aid of revenues such percentage of expenditure referred in sub-section 2 as it may determine from time to time in consultation of the State Governments. Therefore, funds payable to the State Government representing the Central Government's share towards discharging the RTE obligations need not be linked to NEP 2020,' the court said. Since the state government had moved the Supreme Court on the issue, the high court said, 'we are not in a position to issue any binding direction in this regard.' The total sum for the financial year 2024-25 towards SSS is ₹3,585.99 crores. The share of the Central Government is said to be ₹2,151.59 crores. 'The RTE component must be less than ₹200.00 crores. There cannot be any difficulty in releasing the Central Government's share under this head. We, therefore, direct the Central Government to consider de-linking the RTE component of SSS and disburse the funds accordingly,' the court said. Additional advocate general J Ravindran, appearing for the state government, while conceding that the private school managements are entitled to reimbursement, contended that this responsibility has to be shared between the Central and the state Governments. He added that unfortunately, the State has not been paid its legitimate dues and as a result, the State Government is not able to reimburse the school managements in time. His stand was that due to non-release of funds by the Union government, the expenditure towards RTE reimbursement to the schools under Section 12(1)(c) of the Act to the tune of ₹188.99 crores for the year 2022-23 was borne in entirety by the Government of Tamil Nadu and for the last two years reimbursements have not been made. Additional solicitor general ARL Sundaresan pointed out that since the State Government has not agreed to implement NEP 2020, there are issues regarding disbursement of funds. He pointed out that in view of Section 7(5) of the Act, it is the State Government that is primarily responsible for implementing the RTE Act. The moot question the court considered is whether the State Government can default in fulfilling its statutory and constitutional obligation by citing non-receipt of funds from the Union Government. It, '...leads us to the irresistible conclusion that the State Government is obliged to commence the admission process under the RTE Act,' the court said and directed the state government to make reimbursements by adhering to the timeline laid down in the Act. 'Non-receipt of funds from the Union government cannot be cited as a reason to wriggle out of this statutory obligation,' the court said. 'Having issued the aforesaid directions to the state government, we call upon the Central government to discharge its obligations under the Act.'
Scroll.in
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Scroll.in
Funds under Right to Education need not be linked to National Education Policy: Madras HC to Centre
Funds payable by the Union government to state governments under the Right to Education Act need not be linked to the implementation of the National Education Policy, the Madras High Court said on Tuesday, according to Live Law. A bench of Justices GR Swaminathan and V Lakshminarayanan urged the Centre to release to Tamil Nadu the funds under the Right to Education Act. 'It is true that implementation of the Samagra Siksha Scheme is aligned to NEP 2020, but the obligation under RTE is independent by itself,' Live Law quoted the bench as saying. The Samagra Shiksha scheme, implemented in 2018, is the scheme through which the Union government provides support for elementary and secondary school education. In April, the Union Education Ministry had told the Rajya Sabha that Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal received no funds under the central education scheme for 2024-'25. Data shared in the Upper House by Minister of State for Education Jayant Choudhary showed that while Kerala was allocated Rs 328.90 crore, Tamil Nadu Rs 2,151.60 crore and West Bengal Rs 1,745.80 crore from the Centre for the current fiscal year under the scheme, no funds had been released to these states as of March 27. The halt in funding to Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal came against the backdrop of these states refusing to comply with the PM Schools for Rising India, or PM SHRI, scheme. The centrally-sponsored scheme aims to upgrade the infrastructure of schools managed by central, state or regional bodies. However, to avail the scheme's benefits, state governments must first sign a memorandum of understanding with the Centre to implement the 2020 National Education Policy. Tamil Nadu has repeatedly expressed opposition to the three-language formula in the National Education Policy. The state government said it will not change its decades-old two-language policy of teaching students Tamil and English. Of the total funds pending to be paid to the state, the Right to Education component amounts to Rs 200 crore, according to The Hindu. On Tuesday, the High Court pointed out that under section 7 of the Right to Education Act, states and the Union government have concurrent responsibility for providing funds to carry out its provisions. 'Therefore, funds payable to the state governments representing the central government share towards discharging the RTE obligations need not be linked to NEP 2020,' said the bench. It also took note that the state government had moved the Supreme Court against the Centre withholding funds under the Samagra Shiksha scheme. 'We are not in a position to issue any binding direction in this regard,' said the bench, urging the Union government to consider delinking the Right to Education component from the Samagra Siksha Scheme. The court was disposing of a public interest litigation petition seeking directions to the Tamil Nadu government to begin admissions under the Right to Education Act for 2025-'26.
Hindustan Times
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Reimburse pvt schools under RTE, HC tells TN, asks Centre to consider de-linking it from SSS
Chennai, The Madras High Court has asked the Tamil Nadu government to make reimbursement to private unaided schools under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, besides directing the Centre to consider de-linking the RTE component of Samagra Shiksha Scheme and disburse the funds accordingly. A division bench comprising Justices G R Swaminathan and V Lakshminarayanan gave the directive on Monday, while disposing of a Public Interest Litigation filed by V Eswaran, which sought a direction to the authorities to initiate the admission process for the academic year 2024-25. During the course of hearing, Additional Advocate General J Ravindran submitted that the responsibility of reimbursement has to be shared between the Central and the State governments. Unfortunately, the State has not been paid its legitimate dues and as a result, it was not able to reimburse the school managements in time, he added. He said that due to non-release of funds by the Union government, the expenditure towards RTE reimbursement to the schools under Section 12 of the Act to the tune of ₹188.99 crore for the year 2022-23 was borne in entirety by the Government of Tamil Nadu. He sought a direction against the Union Government to pay a sum of ₹2151.59 crore being its 60 per cent share towards Samagra Shiksha Scheme as approved by Project Approval Board for the financial year 2024-25. Additional solicitor general A R L Sundaresan, while reiterating the Union Government's commitment to ensuring that every child has access to education, submitted that Samagra Shiksha Scheme was an integrated scheme that envisages education as a continuum from pre-school to class 12, and that the scheme was aligned with the provisions of NEP 2020. Since the State Government has not agreed to implement NEP 2020, there were issues regarding disbursement of funds, he added. In its order, the bench said a careful reading of the statutory provisions in the light of the various precedents leads it to the irresistible conclusion that the State Government was obliged to commence the admission process under the RTE Act well in time so that the children admitted under this quota were able to join the respective neighbourhood schools at the very commencement of the academic year. The state government has the primary responsibility under Section 7 of the Act to be responsible to provide funds for the implementation of the provisions of the Act. "Therefore, the State Government is directed to make reimbursements by adhering to the timeline laid down in the statute. The quantum of reimbursement cannot be arbitrary. It has to be as per Section 12 of the Act r/w. Rule 9 of the Tamil Nadu Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, 2011. The State Government has a non-derogable obligation to reimburse private unaided schools. Non-receipt of funds from the Union Government cannot be cited as a reason to wriggle out of this statutory obligation", the bench added. Having issued the aforesaid directions to the State government, the bench called upon the Central Government to discharge its obligations under the Act. It was true that implementation of the Samagra Shiksha Scheme was aligned to NEP 2020. But then, obligation under the RTE Act was independent by itself. Section 7 of the Act states that the Central Government and the State Governments have concurrent responsibility for providing funds for carrying out the provisions of the Act. Section 7 of the Act mandates that the Central Government shall provide to the State Government as grant-in-aid of revenues such percentage of expenditure referred in sub-section 2 as it may determine from time to time in consultation of the State Governments, the bench added. "Therefore, funds payable to the State Government representing the Central Government's share towards discharging the RTE obligations need not be linked to NEP 2020. Since the State Government had already filed a suit before the Supreme Court, we are not in a position to issue any binding direction in this regard." "The total sum for the financial year 2024-25 towards SSS is ₹3585.99 crore. The share of the Central Government is said to be ₹2151.59 crore. The RTE component must be less than ₹200 crores. There cannot be any difficulty in releasing the Central Government's share under this head. We, therefore, direct the Central Government to consider de-linking the RTE component of SSS and disburse the funds accordingly," the bench said.
New Indian Express
11-06-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
Madras HC bins plea for CBI probe into GCC scheme for sanitary workers
CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has refused to order a CBI probe into the implementation of the entrepreneurship scheme for conservancy workers in Greater Chennai Corporation. However, it has issued a set of directions to ensure only eligible workers and their legal heirs benefit from the scheme. A division bench of justices GR Swaminathan and V Lakshminarayanan on Tuesday passed the orders on a public interest litigation petition filed by YouTuber Savukku Shankar alleging misappropriation of funds in the Annal Ambedkar Business Champion Scheme. It said that since the issues highlighted by the petitioner have been redressed on account of the fair concession made by Ravikumar Narra, of Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DICCI), and the non-adversarial stand taken by the respondent authorities of the government, there is no need to direct the CBI to register a case on his complaint.
