Plea In Madras High Court Questions Naming 'Ungaludan Stalin' Scheme Behind Chief Minister, Says It Violates Constitutional Neutrality

A plea has been filed in the Madras High Court questioning a new scheme introduced by the state government titled “Ungaludan Stalin”, which is an initiative to address the needs and grievances of the public. The plea, moved by Advocate Dr. M Sathya Kumar, seeks to declare such usage as unconstitutional, illegal and void and restrain the usage of the name “Ungaludan Stalin” for any public-funded scheme, advertisement, programme, or grievance mechanism. The plea also asks state to adopt a neutral and institutional name for all current and future schemes, free from personal identification with any living political leader. The plea states that associating a government scheme with the name of the Chief Minister MK Stalin would violate the constitutional neutrality that is expected from the State. It has been submitted that as per the constitution, the State should function in an impartial, non-partisan and neutral manner. It pointed out that by naming the scheme, associating it with the CM, the neutral public function is converted into a personalized political message and political campaign, and blurs the line between the government and political leader. Thus, the plea argues that the title of the scheme would be violating the principle of political neutrality. The plea further states that by naming a government initiative directly after the serving political leader, personal loyalty is fostered over institutional accountability. It has been pointed out that through the advertisements, using the CM's photographs, a personality cult would be developed which is against democratic values. It has been further argued that the advertisement of the scheme is carried out using public funds. It has been argued that any government scheme branding should inform the citizens about their rights, obligations, entitlements, etc, without promoting political personalities. The plea also states that through continuous advertisements, the public perception would be influenced, thus giving the party an unfair electoral advantage. It has been thus argued that since the scheme is implemented ahead of the elections, it would disrupt equal political opportunity since no opposition leader would receive equal platform or publicity. The plea also pointed out that such branding would be violative of Articles 13, 14, and 21 of the Constitution and compromises the dignity of citizens, who are made to perceive the legally guaranteed welfare measures as personal favours of the political leader. It has also been argued that there is no democratically approved framework allowing a public welfare scheme to be named after a serving political functionary. Thus, the plea seeks to restrain the usage of the title for a government scheme. Case Title: Dr M Sathya Kumar v. Government of Tamil Nadu and Others

Plea In Madras High Court Questions Naming 'Ungaludan Stalin' Scheme Behind Chief Minister, Says It Violates Constitutional Neutrality

Upasana Sajeev

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