Crime, law and justice
SC gives TN a lesson on cooperative federalism, refuses to recall Navodaya order
SC warns state against rejecting central policies, stressing federal balance, student rights, and need for dialogue with Delhi, gives it 3 months to identify land
The Supreme Court has rapped the Tamil Nadu government for steadfastly opposing the Centre’s Navodaya Vidyalayas and directed it to identify land to establish these in each district following its December 2025 directive. “People in Chennai should not alienate Delhi and, vice versa,” the Bench observed at one point.
The bench asked the state government to change its mindset over the issue. “There has to be cooperative federalism,” a Bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih observed while hearing the state government’s plea challenging the Madras High Court’s September 2017 directive to facilitate the establishment of Navodaya Vidyalayas in every district.