New Delhi: The Tamil Nadu government’s plea contesting Governor RN Ravi’s decision to refer the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University (Amendment) Bill, 2025 to the President rather than granting his assent was told by the Supreme Court on Friday to wait for the outcome of the presidential reference.
In the presidential reference, which addressed whether a constitutional court may set deadlines for the president and governors to sign legislation authorized by state legislatures, the supreme court reserved its decision on September 11.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and including Justice K Vinod Chandran heard the case today. The court stated that the matter will be heard following the Constitution bench’s decision.
“You’ll have to wait to see how the presidential reference turns out. You will hardly have four weeks to wait. Before November 21 (Gavai’s retirement), the reference must be decided, the bench stated.
The state government’s senior advocate, Abhishek Singhvi, argued that the governor could not send the measure to the president following “aid and advice” from the council of ministers.
According to Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, 381 references were made by all of the nation’s governors between 2015 and 2025. The question today, according to senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, who is also representing the state government, is whether the governor has the authority to review each clause in the same way that a court would.
In its plea, the state government argued that the governor’s decision to hold off on approving the law until the president’s review was “patently unconstitutional, violative of articles 163(1) and 200 of the Constitution, and void ab initio.”
Along with the Chief Minister’s recommendation to accept it, the state administration stated that on May 6, 2025, the law was forwarded to the governor for assent.
However, noting purported inconsistencies with Clause 7.3 of the UGC Regulations, 2018, the Governor on July 14 forwarded the bill to the President.
