The Supreme Court Today (Aug 6) set aside Madras High Court order that stopped the Tamil Nadu government from using names or photos of current or past Chief Ministers in welfare schemes. It also fined AIADMK leader C Ve Shanmugam Rs 10 lakh for misusing the law.
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NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court of India cancelled an earlier order passed by the Madras High Court, which had stopped the DMK-led Tamil Nadu Government from using the names and photos of present and past Chief Ministers (CM) in their government welfare schemes.
A bench of the Supreme Court consisting of Chief Justice B R Gavai, Justice K Vinod Chandran, and Justice N V Anjaria took serious note of the case and fined AIADMK leader and Member of Parliament, C Ve Shanmugam, with a heavy penalty of Rs 10 lakh.
The Supreme Court said that filing such a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was “abuse of process of the law” and completely unnecessary.
The court stated very clearly that the PIL filed against the use of the Chief Minister’s name in Tamil Nadu’s welfare schemes was “unwarranted”.
The original order was passed by the Madras High Court on 31st July, where it had restricted the Tamil Nadu Government from naming any new or renamed welfare schemes after living persons. It had also stopped the government from using “portraits of former chief ministers, ideological leaders, or any DMK insignia, emblem, or flag in advertisements promoting such schemes.”
The order was given by a division bench of the Madras High Court consisting of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice Sunder Mohan, in response to a PIL filed by C Ve Shanmugam.
He had challenged the government’s public outreach scheme named “Ungaludan Stalin” (With You, Stalin), claiming that it was against public norms and meant to promote the personal image of the current CM rather than the scheme itself.
However, while passing the order, the High Court had made it clear that their judgment “did not prevent the state from launching, implementing, or operating any welfare schemes”. The only restriction was on the names, branding, and promotional materials used for such schemes.
By overturning this order, the Supreme Court has now allowed the Tamil Nadu government to freely use names and photos of current and former leaders like M K Stalin in their welfare projects, while also giving a strong warning against filing baseless or politically motivated cases in the name of public interest.
LAST HEARING IN TOP COURT
A petition was filed in the Supreme Court of India on Aug 4 against a recent order passed by the Madras High Court, which stopped the Tamil Nadu government from using the name of any living person, photographs of former Chief Ministers or ideological leaders, and political party symbols in advertisements for government welfare schemes.
The matter came up before a Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai and Justice Vinod Chandran.
After hearing the request, the CJI agreed to list the case for urgent hearing.
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi appeared before the court to mention the matter for an early hearing. He told the court,
“This is a very unusual and urgent case. No scheme of the Government can have the name of the Chief Minister or any political figure.”
He further questioned the need for such restrictions, asking why there should be a complete ban on using such names for social welfare schemes brought by the government for the public.
The order under challenge was passed on July 31 by a Bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice Sunder Mohan of the Madras High Court.
The High Court was hearing a petition filed by AIADMK Member of Parliament C Ve Shanmugam, who wanted the court to stop the State government from naming schemes after living political leaders or using their photos, as well as party symbols, in promotional material.
In the petition, it was alleged that the Tamil Nadu government was launching a new scheme that used the current Chief Minister’s name, along with photos of ideological leaders and the ruling party DMK’s symbols.
This, according to the petitioner, was against the Supreme Court’s earlier guidelines and the 2014 Government Advertisement (Content Regulation) Guidelines issued by the Centre.
The High Court, while passing the interim order, referred to the Supreme Court’s ruling in State of Karnataka v. Common Cause & Others.
It noted that as per that judgment, publishing the photograph of the current Chief Minister is allowed. However, the court also observed that using the images of ideological leaders or former Chief Ministers was prima facie against the directives given by the Supreme Court.
The High Court also clearly stated that including the names of political leaders in the title of any government scheme was not permissible under the law.
CASE TITLE:
DRAVIDA MUNNETRA KAZHAGAM vs THIRU. C.VE. SHANMUGAM
SLP(C) No. 21487/2025
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