The Supreme Court on Friday told the Tamil Nadu government to await the outcome of the Presidential Reference to decide its plea challenging Governor R N Ravi’s decision to refer the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University (Amendment) Bill, 2025 to the President instead of granting his assent.
A bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and K Vinod Chandran said the matter will be heard after the Constitution bench judgement on the issue.
“You will have to wait for the outcome of the Presidential Reference.You will have to wait hardly for four weeks.The reference has to be decided before November 21 (Gavai’s retirement),” the bench said.
The apex court on September 11 reserved its judgement on the presidential reference, which asked if a Constitutional court can impose timelines for governors and President to assent to bills passed by state legislatures.
During the hearing, senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, submitted that the Governor cannot refer the bill to the President after “aid and advice” of the council of ministers.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta stated that total number of references made by all Governors in the country from 2015 to 2025 are 381.
“If this is to be justiciable, my lords will have two separate benches permanently for deciding these issues,” Mehta said.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, also appearing for the state, said the question today is whether the Governor can examine every clause like a judge.
The Tamil Nadu government in its plea before the top court has said the governor’s act of reserving the Bill for the President’s consideration is “patently unconstitutional, violative of Articles 163(1) and 200 of the Constitution, and void ab initio.”
According to the petition, the Bill was sent to the governor for assent on May 6, 2025, along with the chief minister’s advice to approve it. However, on July 14, the Governor referred the Bill to the President, citing alleged conflicts with Clause 7.3 of the UGC Regulations, 2018 – a move the State says exceeds his constitutional authority.