Overview

• The five-judge Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice B. R. Gavai reserved its opinion after a 10-day hearing on the Article 143 reference.
• The reference followed an April 8 ruling that fixed one- and three-month limits for governors and the President and treated certain Tamil Nadu bills as assented under Article 142.
• Opposition-ruled states argued governors and the President are bound by ministerial advice under Articles 200 and 201 and cannot withhold assent indefinitely.
• The Centre countered that governors have constitutional discretion and are not rubber stamps, as Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Attorney General R. Venkataramani urged the Court not to rewrite the scheme.
• The bench cautioned that blanket timelines pose risks and declined to entertain the Centre’s late-stage statistics, signaling a focus on constitutional principle rather than empirical tallies.