Stalin, Left oppose move on Centre's Presidential reference to SC

Tamil Nadu CM Stalin says Centre's Presidential reference undermines Supreme Court ruling on Governor deadlines and poses a threat to opposition-led state autonomy

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday condemned the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union government for using the Presidential reference route to seek the Supreme Court's opinion on setting deadlines for Governors to act on Bills, as outlined in a recent apex court judgment.

 

Stalin said the move revealed the Union government’s “sinister intent” and was an attempt to “subvert” the constitutional position already settled by the Supreme Court in the Tamil Nadu Governor’s case and other precedents.

 

The Left parties also criticised the Centre for seeking the Supreme Court’s opinion through a Presidential reference. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India (CPI), allies of the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu, voiced their opposition.

 

In a post on X, CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby said, “The Governors are acting at the behest of the ruling party BJP and obstructing the functioning of opposition-led state governments. They are violating the federal principles enshrined in our Constitution. All non-BJP state governments should condemn this move and join together in the fight against centralisation of powers at the cost of states' rights.” CPI general secretary D Raja also condemned the Centre’s move.

 

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister said the Centre’s actions “clearly expose the fact that the Tamil Nadu Governor acted at the BJP’s behest to undermine the people’s mandate.” He added that this was a desperate attempt to weaken democratically elected state governments by placing them under the control of Governors acting as agents of the Union government.

 

“It also directly challenges the majesty of law and the authority of the Supreme Court as the final interpreter of the Constitution,” he said. 

 

Stalin questioned “why there should be any objection to prescribing time limits for Governors to act” and whether the BJP was “seeking to legitimise its Governors’ obstruction by allowing indefinite delays in Bill assent”. He asked if the Centre intended to “paralyse non-BJP state legislatures”.

 

“Our nation stands at a critical juncture. The questions raised in the reference reveal the BJP-led Union government’s sinister intent to distort the Constitution’s basic distribution of powers and incapacitate state legislatures dominated by opposition parties. Thus, it poses a clear exigent threat to state autonomy,” Stalin said.

 

He urged all non-BJP state governments and party leaders to join the legal fight to defend the Constitution.

 

A new analysis released on Thursday by PRS Legislative Research highlighted that in several states in 2024, Governors took significant time to give assent to Bills.

 

The analysis noted that of the Bills passed in 2024, 18 per cent received assent after more than three months (including Bills still awaiting assent as of April 2025).

 

States with a high proportion of delayed assent included Himachal Pradesh (72 per cent of Bills), Sikkim (56 per cent), and West Bengal (38 per cent).

 

Across all states, 60 per cent of Bills received Governor assent within a month. In five states—Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Mizoram, and Rajasthan—all Bills received assent within a month.