Post-commencement amendment and unguided deferment power held incompatible with arbitrariness, judicial finality, and the rule of law.

A post-commencement amendment that effectively withdrew an already operating uniform school education scheme was treated as manifestly arbitrary and unconstitutional. The Court noted that the parent scheme had been implemented in phases, earlier judicial approvals stood on record, and the State already had sufficient statutory machinery to address defects without scrapping the scheme. It further held that a legislature cannot nullify final judicial decisions by merely changing the form of the law, and that conferring unfettered power on the Government to decide the commencement date amounted to an impermissible abdication of legislative function. The earlier statutory regime therefore continued to operate.

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Issues: (i) Whether the Tamil Nadu Uniform System of School Education (Amendment) Act, 2011 was arbitrary and invalid for effectively postponing and undoing the already commenced uniform education scheme; (ii) Whether the Legislature could, by amendment, nullify the effect of earlier judicial decisions and defer implementation of the parent Act by conferring an uncanalised power on the Government to notify the commencement date.

Issue (i): Whether the Tamil Nadu Uniform System of School Education (Amendment) Act, 2011 was arbitrary and invalid for effectively postponing and undoing the already commenced uniform education scheme.

Analysis: The scheme under the parent Act had already commenced in a phased manner and had been upheld earlier. The Court found that the Amendment Act did not merely cure defects but, in substance, withdrew the operation of the uniform syllabus and textbooks even for standards already brought under the scheme. The record showed that the State had enough statutory power under the remove-difficulties provision to address deficiencies, while the Expert Committee had not reported any unanimous necessity to scrap the scheme. The retrospective rollback, in the Court's view, was manifestly arbitrary and contrary to the equality mandate.

Conclusion: The Amendment Act was invalid and could not be sustained.

Issue (ii): Whether the Legislature could, by amendment, nullify the effect of earlier judicial decisions and defer implementation of the parent Act by conferring an uncanalised power on the Government to notify the commencement date.

Analysis: The Court held that a legislature cannot directly or indirectly overrule a final judicial pronouncement by merely changing the form of the law without altering the basis on which the judgment was rendered. It further held that the amendment conferred unfettered discretion to postpone commencement even after the statute had come into force, which amounted to abdication of legislative function and impermissible interference with the rule of law. Since the amendment was struck down as unconstitutional, the earlier statutory regime continued to operate.

Conclusion: The Legislature could not validly nullify the earlier judgments or postpone the scheme in the manner attempted.

Final Conclusion: The impugned amendment failed, the uniform education scheme remained operative, and no interference with the High Court's decision was warranted.

Ratio Decidendi: A post-commencement amendment that in substance nullifies an existing statutory scheme and the effect of prior judicial approvals, while conferring unguided power to defer implementation, is arbitrary and unconstitutional; legislation may remove the basis of a judgment but cannot merely overrule it by declaration.

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