The court has it

There is no denying the fact that an April 8 judgment of the Supreme Court, prescribing timelines for governors to deal with bills forwarded by the state legislature, overreached by extending the same prescription for the President.

By doing so, it raised constitutional questions that prompted a Presidential reference, one that did not seek a review of the April 8 order, but posed larger questions.

A Constitution Bench responded to that reference this week, and effectively scrapped the April 8 order.

To be sure, it said it would intervene if states approached it when governors sat on bills for too long, but the subjective nature of this promise simply means that the situation reverts to what it was before April 8.

The judgment clearly demarcates the writ of the judiciary from the powers of the executive – but leaves the third pillar, the........

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