Top law officials joined forces to frame Murmu's questions

THE QUESTIONS DEAL WITH THE CONSTITUTIONAL VALIDITY AND REACH OF THE APRIL 8 SC ORDER

- Abraham Thomas

NEW DELHI: The 14 questions put forth by President Droupadi Murmu in her presidential reference to the Supreme Court (SC) were the result of a month-long effort involving brainstorming, research, and coordination between multiple government departments and the offices of the top two law officers of the Centre, people aware of developments said on Thursday.

The questions deal with the constitutionality and reach of an April 8 judgment by the SC, setting deadlines for governors and the President to clear state bills.

The efforts — which included several rounds of meeting involving the offices of attorney general R Venkataramani, solicitor general Tushar Mehta, and the legislative wing of the Union law ministry — began shortly after the government received a certified copy of the judgment on April 12 and ended just a week before it was filed in the top court's registry on May 14, said the people cited above.

"There was contemplation of filing a reference," said one of the persons cited above. "The question of filing a review was not under consideration at any point of time," the person referred above added.

Under top court rules, the presidential reference is considered by a five-judge Constitution bench set up by the Chief Justice of India. A review petition would ordinarily be considered — either in chambers or open court — by the same bench that passed the original verdict.

On May 14, Murmu posed 14 questions to the SC over the landmark April 8 verdict that fixed timelines for governors and the President to act on bills passed by state assemblies.