Over two months after President Droupadi Murmu referred a list of 14 questions to the Supreme Court over the court’s power to set deadlines for president and state governors, the apex court has now decided to hear the references. A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court take up the presidential references on 22nd July.
As per reports, A Constitution Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai, Justice Surya Kant, Justice Vikram Nath, Justice PS Narasimha, and Justice Atul S Chandurkar has been constituted to deal with the matter. The president made the references under Article 143(1) of the Constitution, which allows the President to seek the Court’s opinion on questions of law or matters of public importance.
The president sent the 14 questions to the Supreme Court after the Supreme Court delivered a controversial verdict in April prescribing deadlines on the Governor and the President for deciding on state bills in exercise of their powers under Articles 200 and 201 of the Constitution.
The verdict, passed in The State of Tamil Nadu v The Governor of Tamil Nadu and Anr, the Court had ruled that the absence of a time limit under Article 200 could not be interpreted to allow indefinite delay. The court ruled that the governors must decide on a bill sent by the legislature within thee months.
Even though the case was on governor’s power, the Supreme Court decided include the President too, saying that president also must give a decision on bills by three months. The ruling was widely criticised for alleged judicial overreach or a judicial attempt to effectively amend the constitution.
Notably, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan, the author of the April judgement, has not been included in the constitutional bench that will effectively review the judgement.
