The verdict will have a significant bearing on extant disputes in states such as West Bengal, Kerala and Telangana, which have also approached the top court with similar petitions. And the pronouncement of the apex court that the governor’s actions lacked bona fides and amounted to an impermissible “pocket veto” is a damning indictment of the actions of the Raj Bhavan in Chennai and leaves Mr Ravi with few honourable options other than to resign.

The problem of Raj Bhavans overstepping their constitutional boundaries goes back to the early years of independence — from the Jawaharlal Nehru Cabinet recommending the dismissal of the Kerala government in 1959 despite the latter enjoying a legislative majority to the Indira Gandhi administration dismissing several state governments using the office of the governor. Since 2014, a number of Raj Bhavans across the country have attempted to emerge as parallel power centres to the elected governments in states ruled by non-BJP parties. This cemented the perception that some constitutional appointees were infringing on the domain of the state government and appeared to be more interested in pushing the envelope and ratcheting up confrontation, than cooperating in governance.

These face-offs were harmful to the democratic health of the country and strained India’s federal fabric. In particular, the practice of indefinitely sitting on bills passed by the legislative assembly undermined electoral democracy and violated the spirit of the Constitution. The top court has highlighted the bounds of the framework drawn by the Constituent Assembly for governors. Raj Bhavans would do well to take note.