New Delhi, Oct. 6 -- The Supreme Court on Monday indicated that it may not, for now, examine the larger constitutional questions surrounding the limits of legislative privileges and their interplay with citizens' fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a), after being informed that the Tamil Nadu Assembly resolution that triggered the long-pending reference had itself been withdrawn in 2004. Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant said that the seven-judge constitution bench could instead dispose of the matter after a brief hearing on Tuesday, while leaving the larger questions open for adjudication in an appropriate case when a live controversy comes before the court. The development potentially puts on hold a much-anticipated examination by the seven-judge bench of the constitutional boundaries of legislative privilege, including the circumstances in which state legislatures can invoke their privileges against persons outside the House and the extent to which such powers can operate when they collide with the fundamental right to free speech. On Monday, senior advocate Raju Ramachandran, appearing for the Tamil Nadu Assembly, mentioned the matter before the CJI and pointed out that the resolution which was the subject matter of the original challenge had been withdrawn in 2004. He said this fact was not reflected in the referral order and indicated that the Assembly's preliminary objection would be that the controversy had become academic and no longer survived. Attorney General R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who were also present, agreed that the issue may now have become academic. "I have not seen this in the case file yet. The referral order also does not reflect this," the CJI said. The Chief Justice then suggested that if the dispute had indeed become academic, the court could defer examination of the larger constitutional questions until an occasion arose in a live matter.P4...