The Tamil Nadu government urged the Madras High Court to modify its earlier order on scheme nomenclatures, warning that immediate enforcement could halt welfare programmes like ‘Ungaludan Stalin’ and ‘Nalam Kaakum Stalin’ entirely.
The Tamil Nadu government informed the Madras High Court that immediately enforcing the order regarding nomenclatures for state schemes could result in staying an entire scheme.
This statement was made in a petition requesting modifications to a previous Madras HC order, allowing the Tamil Nadu government’s ‘Ungaladun Stalin’ and ‘Nalam Kaakum Stalin’ schemes to proceed under their current names.
The court has scheduled the hearing for this modification petition for August 7.
The first bench, consisting of Chief Justice M M Shrivatsava and Justice Sunder Mohan, had directed on July 31, 2025, that while launching and advertising government welfare schemes, no living personality’s name, photographs of former Chief Ministers, ideological leaders, or DMK party insignia should be included.
This interim order was issued in response to petitions filed by AIADMK MP C Ve Shanmugam and advocate Iniyan.
The state government filed the modification petition seeking clarification. During the hearing, senior counsel Vijay Narayan noted that the DMK party had mentioned this interim order before the Supreme Court, which is set to hear the case the day after tomorrow.
The bench remarked that since the order has been challenged,
“We will not pass any further order now.”
Senior counsel Abhishek Singhvi, representing the state government, stated that they had not filed an appeal with the Supreme Court. He further suggested that if the court clarifies the modification petition, the matter could be resolved.
The bench agreed to postpone the discussion for two days, acknowledging their predicament, and scheduled the matter for Thursday.
Vijay Narayan mentioned that despite the court order, the state government proceeded with a function on August 2. In her modification petition, Public Secretary Reeta Harish Thakkar argued that the court had ruled it impermissible to name any living political figure in the nomenclature of the scheme or in related advertisements.
She emphasized that the scheme was introduced in the name of the Chief Minister, a constitutional authority, and should not be viewed as associated with a political personality.
Thakkar noted that the actual Government Order for the ‘Nalam Kaakum Stalin’ scheme was issued on June 3, 2025, and it includes extensive medical benefits and health checkups throughout the state. All promotional materials for the scheme have already been printed and distributed.
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She warned that if the court’s order were enforced immediately, the entire scheme would need to be put on hold, requiring the redoing of all published materials, which would take weeks and waste the arrangements made so far.
She concluded that the petitioners’ late action would cause major challenge and prejudice to the state, ultimately harming the larger public interest.