4. Advisory Jurisdiction

The Constitution (Article 143) authorises the president to seek the opinion of the Supreme Court in the two categories of matters:

(a) On any question of law or fact of public importance which has arisen or which is likely to arise.

(b) On any dispute arising out of any pre-constitution treaty, agreement, covenant, engagement, sanad or other similar instruments.11

In the first case, the Supreme Court may tender or may refuse to tender its opinion to the president. But, in the second case, the Supreme Court 'must’ tender its opinion to the president. In both the cases, the opinion expressed by the Supreme Court is only advisory and not a judicial pronouncement. Hence, it is not binding on the president; he may follow or may not follow the opinion. However, it facilitates the government to have an authoritative legal opinion on a matter to be decided by it.

So far (2019), the President has made fifteen references to the Supreme Court under its advisory jurisdiction (also known as consultative jurisdiction). These are mentioned below in the chronological order.

1. Delhi Laws Act in 1951

2. Kerala Education Bill in 1958

3. Berubari Union in 1960

4. Sea Customs Act in 1963

5. Keshav Singh’s case relating to the privileges of the Legislature in 1964

6. Presidential Election in 1974

7. Special Courts Bill in 1978

8. Jammu and Kashmir Resettlement Act in 1982

9. Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal in 1992

10. Rama Janma Bhumi case in 1993

11. Consultation process to be adopted by the chief justice of India in 1998

12. Legislative competence of the Centre and States on the subject of natural gas and liquefied natural gas in 2001

13. The constitutional validity of the Election Commission’s decision on deferring the Gujarat Assembly Elections in 2002

14. Punjab Termination of Agreements Act in 2004

15. 2G spectrum case verdict and the mandatory auctioning of natural resources across all sectors in 2012