Governor and President’s Powers | Day 1: Supreme Court issues notice to Union and state governments

Presidential Reference on Powers of the Governor and President

Judges: B.R. Gavai J, Surya Kant J, Vikram Nath J, P.S. Narasimha J, A.S. Chandurkar J

Advay Vora | 22nd Jul 2025

Today, a Special Bench issued notice to all state governments in the Presidential Reference on the powers of the Governor and the President. President Draupadi Murmu had referred the 14 questions on 13 May 2025, invoking the Supreme Court’s advisory jurisdiction under Article 143. The reference came a month after the Court held that Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi’s withholding of bills was “illegal” and “erroneous”. 

Significantly, in the Tamil Nadu Governor case, Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan had fixed timelines for the Governor and President to expedite the process of approving state legislations. Any breach of these timelines was open to judicial review. Further, the Bench exercised its discretionary powers under Article 142 to deem assent to the pending bills. While the Reference does not expressly mention the Tamil Nadu Governor case, many of the questions raised by the President directly address issues that were deliberated upon in that Judgement.

Notices, directions and next steps 

In a brief hearing, Chief Justice B.R. Gavai stated that the case will be returnable in one week and issued notice to all parties, including all state governments. This means that the Court will convene again next Tuesday (29 July 2025) to set down timelines for the submission of relevant documents, such as written submissions, rejoinders and interlocutory applications. The Court will appoint nodal counsel to organise the many documents in the case. 

Senior Advocates K.K. Venugopal for Kerala and P. Wilson for Tamil Nadu informed the Bench that they wanted to argue about the maintainability of the case i.e. whether the Court should hear it at all. Currently pending before the Court is a petition by the Kerala government against its former Governor over the delay of bills. 

Attorney General R. Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for the Union government. 

CJI Gavai stated that the substantial hearings in the case will likely take place in mid-August. The specific timelines are likely to be clarified by the Court in the hearing next Tuesday.