Report: Defining Constitutional Boundaries in the Presidential Reference to the Supreme Court of India
August 2025
The Tynrai Centre for Policy is pleased to announce its forthcoming report, titled "Defining Constitutional Boundaries in the Presidential Reference to the Supreme Court of India".
The report has been authored by Ms Sayantani Bagchi, Assistant Professor of Law and Director of the Centre for Comparative Constitutional Law and Administrative Law at the National Law University, Jodhpur, and edited by Jade Lyngdoh, Director of the Tynrai Centre for Policy.
Introduction
On 13 May 2025, the Hon’ble President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu, invoked the advisory jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of India under Article 143 of the Constitution, seeking its opinion in the matter titled Re: Assent, Withholding or Reservation of Bills by the Governor and the President of India.
The Presidential Reference raises fourteen questions of significant Constitutional import, centering on the scope and limitations of the Governor’s powers in relation to Bills passed by state legislatures. Specifically, the questions pertain to the Constitutional framework governing assent, withholding of assent, and reservation of Bills for the consideration of the President of India. They further engage with the delicate balance between the Governor’s discretionary authority, the democratic mandate of the elected state legislature, and the foundational principles of federalism and parliamentary democracy.
Pursuant to the Presidential Reference, on 22 July 2025, the Supreme Court issued notices to the Union of India and all State Governments, inviting their responses on the Constitutional questions posed.
The issues under consideration implicate core Constitutional values, including representative democracy, rule of law, separation of powers, federalism, and the scope of judicial review.
Contributions
The Centre gratefully acknowledges the contributions of the following researchers from National Law University Jodhpur: Aabhas N. Chaturvedi, Gurmehar S. Bedi, Hitanshi Jain, Kairav Shah, Kashish Saxena, Manishka Baweja, Mayank Sinha, Mohak Dua, Riddhiman Chandra Agarwal, Sarah Unhelkar, Suhana, Taniya Garg, Vaibhav Pratap Singh and Vihaan M. N, for their valuable information and analysis, source review and substantive input to this report.
Any errors, misrepresentations, or inaccuracies remain the responsibility of the Centre, which welcomes feedback.
Our Forthcoming Report
Our forthcoming report will be published on our website in the coming days.
We invite you to stay tuned for further updates: a formal announcement will appear here as soon as the report goes live.
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