India, July 28 -- The Kerala government has opposed the maintainability of the presidential reference, questioning the April 8 Supreme Court verdict that laid down a timeline for the president and governors to decide on state bills. It argued that the court's past decisions cover the issue and those cannot be overruled in a reference proceeding.

In May, President Droupadi Murmu exercised a rare constitutional provision and sought the Supreme Court's advisory opinion on 14 questions to settle the law on whether the president and governors need to follow timelines on state bills referred for consent when the Constitution does not prescribe it.

The April 8 order struck down Tamil Nadu governor RN Ravi's move to reserve 10 re-enacted bills ...