A seven-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday disposed of a presidential reference on legislative privilege as infructuous. The bench was headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant.

The reference dated back to a 2003 resolution of the Tamil Nadu Assembly, which was withdrawn in 2004. The matter arose from proceedings involving The Hindu’s former editor N. Ravi and the assembly’s breach-of-privilege jurisdiction.

The bench held that since the underlying resolution no longer survives, the reference had become infructuous. Questions of law on the scope of legislative privilege under Article 194(3) and its relationship with free speech under Article 19(1)(a) and Article 21 were left open.

Senior advocate A.M. Singhvi, appearing in the matter, remarked on the brevity of the hearing. The disposal closes a reference that had been pending for over two decades without the court ruling on the substantive constitutional questions.

The scope of legislative privilege versus press freedom has been debated since the 2003 assembly proceedings. By leaving the questions of law open, the court has kept the door ajar for a future case to settle them.