New Delhi, May 21 -- The Supreme Court is likely to take up the presidential reference on the timeline for gubernatorial and presidential assent to state bills as early as next week, even as an internal debate has emerged over whether the matter must be placed directly before a Constitution bench or if a three-judge bench may first hear it and issue preliminary notices.

People familiar with the development said that the court registry has been asked to examine previous Article 143 references to determine if even initial hearings were conducted by benches of at least five judges, or if smaller benches issued notices before the matters were escalated to Constitution benches.

One of the people cited above said: "The case will eventually go...