In an extraordinary move that has the scope to reshape the contours of the Indian Constitution, the President of India has invoked a rarely used power under Article 143 to refer a legal question to the Supreme Court.

The question? The very scope and legitimacy of the Supreme Court’s extraordinary powers under Article 142. At its heart, this momentous referral has placed two of the republic’s most powerful constitutional authorities—the President and the Supreme Court—on a potential collision course.

The reference from the Rashtrapati Bhawan para-dropped close to a month after the Supreme Court ruled that the President must decide on bills referred by Governors within three months.

This landmark decision came after the court overturned the Tamil Nadu Governor’s decision to withhold approval for pending bills. The court ruled that Governors cannot indefinitely delay assent to Bills passed by the state legislature. Such inaction........

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