Abstract

The current face-off between the President of India and the Supreme Court has brought into focus a vital and unexamined fault line in India's constitutional framework—one that challenges the transparency and symmetry of presidential powers under Articles 143 and 201. This paper questions the developing wrangle that tests the traditional construction of the President's discretionary power to ask for judicial advice and withhold assent to bills of the state legislature, and points out a constitutional gridlock that jeopardizes the fundamental doctrine of separation of powers. By probing the President's recent advisory cites and the Supreme Court's activist judicial constructions, the research lays bare a hidden uncertainty in the constitutional practice and text and thereby raises fundamental questions regarding institutional independence, judicial hegemony, and presidential discretion. Is the President's advisory function merely ritualistic, or does it have significant constitutional bite? To what degree can the Supreme Court limit presidential discretion without disturbing the balance among branches? By sheer legal scrutiny, doctrinal evaluation, and comparative examination, this paper contends that the current model is devoid of definitive principles to balance the rival assertions of constitutional actors, thus jeopardizing institutional disharmony and governance uncertainty. The paper urges immediate doctrinal elucidation and a constitutional norms rebalancing to maintain democratic legitimacy, secure the rule of law, and strengthen India's constitutional democracy against nascent fault lines.

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