Kerala urges SC to return President’s Reference on Bill-assent verdict

Kerala has urged the Supreme Court to send back unanswered the Reference made by President Droupadi Murmu under Article 143, questioning whether the judiciary can fix timelines for the President and state governors to approve state Bills.

Kerala has argued that it is a “serious misuse” of Article 143 and an attempt to use the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to overrule its own judgment in the State of Tamil Nadu vs the Governor of Tamil Nadu (2025) case.

Also read: SC issues notice on Presidential reference for bill assent timelines

Kerala’s arguments

The state, represented by Senior Advocate KK Venugopal and CK Sasi, argued on Monday (July 28) that the President, under its advisory jurisdiction of Article 143 of the Constitution, can refer questions to the Supreme Court only if the latter hasn’t decided the matter yet.

However, 11 of the 14 queries raised in the Reference were directly addressed by the 2025 Tamil Nadu judgment delivered by Justice JB Pardiwala on April 8, Kerala has argued.

The state also pointed out that the Centre did not file a review or curative petition against the verdict and, therefore, it must be assumed that it has accepted it.

Also read: Kerala: Fresh row erupts after VC suspends registrar for notice cancelling Guv event

On Article 200

The state has also challenged the Reference, saying it is based on an “erroneous statement” that Article 200 “does not stipulate any time frame upon the Governor for the exercise of constitutional options under” it. It says that Article 200 does stipulate a timeline with the use of words “as soon as possible”.

Moreover, Kerala argued that the Constitution does not allow the Supreme Court to sit in appeal of its own judgments. It alleged that the Reference was “misleading”.