SC to hear TN plea against HC order barring it from using name, picture of CM in welfare schemes

New Delhi: The Tamil Nadu government has approached the Supreme Court challenging validity of a Madras High Court's order restraining the use of names and photographs of living personalities, former Chief Ministers, party leaders or political parties for the government welfare schemes.

On Monday, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi mentioned the matter on behalf of the state government for urgent hearing before a bench of Chief Justice of India B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran.

The court agreed to schedule it for consideration on August 6, 2025.

The High Court, in its interim order, restrained the use of living personalities, former Chief Ministers, party leaders or political parties and portraits of the CM in govt welfare schemes.

Rohtagi said it has been held by the top court in its various orders that the name and pictures of the CMs, former CMs and political leaders can be used in government welfare schemes.

"There is no bar on it," he said.

Rohatgi contended the High Court has passed an unusual order that no scheme of the government can have the name of the Chief Minister or any other political figure.

"This is completely contrary to this court's judgment which said don't put the photographs except the photos of the Prime Minister, and the Chief Minister. Why can't we name a scheme? These are schemes for the welfare of the poor," he said.

The Madras HC's two-judge bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice Sunder Mohan, in its interim order, said that while launching and operating government welfare schemes through various advertisements, the name of any living personality, photograph of any former Chief Minister/ideological leaders or party insignia/emblem/flag of DMK shall not be included.

The High Court had said that the Supreme Court, in its previous judgment, had clarified that publication of a photograph of the incumbent Chief Minister was permissible but use of photographs of ideological leaders or former Chief Ministers was prima facie against its directives.

The High Court's interim order came on a petition filed by AIADMK MP C V Shanmugam seeking to restrain the DMK government from using Chief Minister Stalin's name for its Mudhalvarin Mugavari, a public grievance redressal scheme introduced by it.