Following up on its April 8 order setting limits on gubernatorial discretion in withholding assent to bills passed by state legislatures, the Supreme Court (SC) curbed the power of the President to indefinitely delay the enactment of state legislation in a judgement that is bound to have serious repercussions on the Indian polity, especially in helping restore the balance between the centre and the states in India’s federal structure. It is a most consequential and welcome strike in favour of states’ rights that have been casually infringed upon by an authoritarian centre that has little respect for democratic norms and federal principles. The SC ruled that neither the governor nor the President has........

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