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N. Ravi reference: Key dates
A seven-judge Supreme Court bench closed the two-decade-old N. Ravi reference on legislative privilege and free speech as infructuous on October 6, because the Tamil Nadu Assembly had withdrawn its 2003 resolution, while keeping the constitutional questions open.
November 7, 2003: the Assembly passes the resolution.
November 10, 2003: the Supreme Court stays the arrests, according to LiveLaw.
December 2003: the matter goes to a five-judge bench.
2004: the Assembly withdraws the resolution.
October 6, 2026: the seven-judge bench closes the reference.
The then Speaker, K. Kalimuthu, ordered the journalists’ arrest, and the Supreme Court stayed the arrest of six journalists, according to ThePrint.
A bench of Justices Y.K. Sabharwal and S.B. Sinha stayed the arrests on November 10, 2003, according to LiveLaw.
In December 2003, the court framed substantial questions of law and referred the matter to a five-judge bench.
That bench noted a conflict between earlier rulings on legislative privileges and referred the matter to seven judges.
The reference then remained pending for about two decades, and the court fixed the hearing for October 6 in August 2026.
The Tamil Nadu Assembly had unanimously withdrawn its November 7, 2003 resolution in 2004, according to ThePrint.
Senior Advocate Raju Ramachandran told the court about the withdrawal, and the bench noted that the reference order had not taken notice of it.
Because the resolution stood recalled, the court held that there was no surviving cause of action.
The writ petitions were disposed of as infructuous.
The bench kept the legal questions open to be pursued in future in appropriate proceedings.
The open questions concern the interplay between Articles 194(3), 19(1)(a) and 21 of the Constitution.
Article 194(3) deals with the powers and privileges of State legislatures, Article 19(1)(a) with freedom of speech and Article 21 with the right to life and personal liberty.
The court has not held that legislative privilege overrides fundamental rights or the reverse, according to ThePrint.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the issue may have become academic, according to LiveLaw.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal described the misuse of legislative privileges as a matter of great significance, according to LiveLaw.
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