On 6 October 2026 the Bench led by CJI Surya Kant disposed of the 2003 Tamil Nadu Assembly reference without deciding how privilege squares with free speech.

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• A seven-judge Supreme Court Bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant disposed of the legislative privilege reference as infructuous on 6 October 2026.
• The reference arose from N. Ravi v. Speaker, Legislative Assembly, Chennai, triggered by a 2003 Tamil Nadu Assembly resolution against journalists of The Hindu.
• The Supreme Court had stayed the arrests of six journalists in that case.
• The Assembly withdrew the impugned resolution in 2004, a fact that escaped the Court's notice when the reference was made.
• A two-judge Bench referred the matter to a five-judge Bench in December 2003, which found conflicting precedents and sent it to seven judges.
• The conflict was between the 1959 ruling in Pandit M.S.M. Sharma v. Shri Krishna Sinha and the seven-judge Special Reference No. 1 of 1964.
• CJI Surya Kant said the Court would not engage in a mere academic exercise once the withdrawal was brought to its attention.
• The Bench disposed of the writ petitions as infructuous and left the questions under Articles 194(3), 19(1)(a) and 21 open for a future proceeding.
• The hearing lasted only about 14 minutes, ending a reference that had been pending for roughly two decades.
• The Chief Justice noted that another seven-judge Bench matter had also been disposed of, and two more might similarly be infructuous.
• The Court has therefore not held whether legislative privilege can override the fundamental right to free speech.

Tags: LegislativePrivilege, Article194, FreedomOfSpeech